Bronz statue: Laocoon (naked, beard) stands with legs apart and with his left hand pushes away from his face a snake's head, maw wide open. With his left he holds the snake's body behind his back. By Laocoon's legs there are his two sons with the snake coiled around their limbs. In Wallenstein's time an elaborate Neptun fountain stood in front of Sala Terrena, which was complemented by four bronze sculptural groups on marble bases which stood between the fountain and Sala Terrena. Laocoon and the Wrestlers were probably standing side by side, the former symbolizing punished impiety and the latter defeated revolt. To the left of the group with Laocoon, in which resistance was condemned, the group with Venus and Adonis could have stood, in which the advantages of forethoughtful submission were celebrated. The group of Venus and Adonis would form a couple with the group of Bacchus and the little Satyr celebrating the blessings of the epoch of peace. The playful fight of Bachus and Satyr would form a contrasting pair with the deadly fight of Wrestlers at the opposite end of the row. All statues were made between 1623 and 1627 in the Prague studio of Adrien de Vries, former Court Sculptor to Emperor Rudolf II., Michalski 2004#, Fučíková, Čepička 2007#, 443-444 (Eliška Fučíková), and In 1625 Adrien de Vries made a statue of Laocoon for the fountain in front of Sala Terrena, but at Wallenstein's request, to which sculptor alludes in his letter of February 1626, it was replaced by Neptune. Since its discovery in 1506 the famous ancient statue had been identified with that which was mentioned by Pliny, who wrote that it decorated the palace of the emperor Titus (Natural History 36, 37). This explicit imperial connection was as important as the theme of the statue. Laocoon was the Trojan priest who revolted against the gods' decision that his city must be captured by Greeks and he was immediately cruelly punished. Laocoon had to die because Troy had to be burned to allow Aeneas to arrive to Italy, this sequence of events later leading to the birth of Rome and its empire. Laocoon, as a token of God's plan, thus legitimised the imperial rule on earth. When the theme of Laocoon appears in 16th century art, it is always in a negative context, as an example of justly punished transgression. Sergiusz Michalski (Michalski 2004) was the first who argued that Adrian de Vries' Laocoon alluded to the defeat of the Bohemian estates in the Battle of White Mountain in 1620.
Bronz statue: Neptun (naked, beard) stands with legs apart a raises his right hand, in his left he holds behind his back a trident with the spikes pointing downwards. By Neptun's legs a barking dog. It is a conspicuously small dog, when compared with Neptune it is no monster, merely a dog which got into a fury and was quickly pacified by his master. It stands with its head threateningly lowered; it tries to be scary, but only at distance, because Neptune's authority does not allow him to leave the place under his feet. Today in front of Sala Terrena stands the fountain with a bronze statue of Venus with Amor. In Wallenstein's time an elaborate fountain with bronze sculptures stood on this site, which was crowned by Neptune and contained today lost components: two seated river gods, two sirens or nymphs situated at the base of the pillar, and on the pillar four dogs, four horse heads, two lion heads and two gryph's heads. Originally Laocoon should be the central figure of the fountain, but at Wallenstein's request it was replaced by Neptun. All statues were made in the Prague studio of Adrien de Vries, former Court Sculptor to Emperor Rudolf II., Fučíková, Čepička 2007#, 443-444 (Eliška Fučíková), and The iconographical type of Neptun's statue, which Adrian de Vries used, was created in 1554-1557 by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli. It crowned a fountain of Neptune in Messina, which celebrated the Emperor Charles V. Montrosoli's god of the sea followed the "Quos ego" type, created by Raffael and known above all from Marcantonio's print, but with important changes. In the Messina fountain, the Emperor was celebrated as a peacemaker, not as a warrior. Montorsoli's Neptune does not raise his weapon to strike; he holds it as an attribute in his left hand, while his right hand is raised in a way which assimilates ancient god to mortal orator, calming his audience, evident allusion to subsequent verses in Aeneis. In them Vergil compared Neptune to a man who resolutely stands up in the middle of civil riot and calms mutineers by his wise words. Montorsoli's concept of Neptune/orator was further developed in Giambologna's statue of 1563-1566. Neptune is not all threatening or ordering, he raises his right hand to address the audience and the content of his speech is explicitly indicated by the gesture of his left hand. He does not hold the trident next to him as Montorsoli's Neptune does in Messina, but he hides the terrible weapon behind his back. The Prague sculptor went one step further. His Neptune holds his weapon not only behind his back, but also in reverse, with the spikes pointing downwards. The contrast with Rafael's aggressive Neptun, who punishes, which found echo in Bernini's statue of 1620, cannot be greater. Adrian de Vries adapted this type in Neptune's statue for the fountain, which Danish king Christian IV ordered in 1622 (today also in Drottningholm). In Prague, Neptune's enemies are represented by a dog, which is absolutely unique in Neptune's iconography, and stands for the defeated Bohemian estates. In this connection we may recall emblem books, which were popular in Wallenstein's time. In Andrea Alciati's and Theodore de B?ze's collections of emblems, the picture of a dog barking at the moon was interpreted as a symbol of useless action in general and of antagonism which achieves nothing in particular. Ferdinand II was thus celebrated in Wallenstein's garden, because he calmed the local political storm, which threatened the very existence of the Habsburg Empire.
Bronz statue: Adonis (naked) strides with a catched hind on his shoulders, by his legs a dog. He bends down to Venus. Naked Venus sits on a tree stump, she raises her right hand to Adonis, in her left she holds a wreath. In Wallenstein's time an elaborate Neptun fountain stood in front of Sala Terrena, which was complemented by four bronze sculptural groups on marble bases which stood between the fountain and Sala Terrena. Laocoon and the Wrestlers were probably standing side by side, the former symbolizing punished impiety and the latter defeated revolt. To the left of the group with Laocoon, in which resistance was condemned, the group with Venus and Adonis could have stood, in which the advantages of forethoughtful submission were celebrated. The group of Venus and Adonis would form a couple with the group of Bacchus and the little Satyr celebrating the blessings of the epoch of peace. The playful fight of Bachus and Satyr would form a contrasting pair with the deadly fight of Wrestlers at the opposite end of the row., Fučíková, Čepička 2007#, 443-444 (Eliška Fučíková), and Over a hundred-year period around 1600, Venus and Adonis was a very fashionable theme in painting and we often find it in the Prague Court art of Rudolf II. Two moments were most often illustrated from the myth, Venus trying to stop Adonis departing for the fateful boar hunt and Venus lamenting his death. The representation of Adonis' departure was noticeably stereotyped; we see again and again a sitting Venus trying to embrace Adonis who walks away, in this way Adrian de Vries represented the couple in 1621 (Bückenburg, today Berlin). The Prague statue seemingly conforms to this type, because Venus is also represented on the ground and she raises her hands towards the walking Adonis. But Adonis is not departing, he is returning from a successful hunt with game over his shoulder. Adonis' triumphal return was highlighted by the wreath in Venus' raised hand, which occupies a central position in the group. In Wallenstein's time the standard allegorical reading of the Adonis myth was centred on the hero's refusal of divine counsel, his departure from Venus and its tragic consequence (Mander 1602, 88v). This makes Adonis a perfect counterpart to Laocoon, who also did not obey and had to pay for it. But Prague's Adonis is safely returning from a hunt with a stag on his shoulders and Venus greets him with a wreath, because he did exactly what he had advised him. In depictions of Adonis in 16th and 17th century we do not find other examples of Venus with a wreath or the motif of hero's return from hunt with a small animal on his shoulders. It seems as if Adriaen de Vries reversed the traditional iconographical type, but retained its political message. The tamed Adonis obeys his divine master and is justly rewarded, or, when we translate it into contemporary political terminology, the obstinate rebel is turned into a dutiful subject. It is possible to imagine the statues of Laocoon and the Wrestlers standing side by side in the Wallenstein garden, the former symbolizing punished impiety and the latter defeated revolt. Next to the group with Laocoon, in which resistance was condemned, the group with Venus and Adonis could have stood, in which the advantages of forethoughtful submission were celebrated, in Czech lands very topical theme after the defeat of Czech estates in 1620.
Bronz statue: two naked wreastlers, between them a little shrub with a wreath leaning against its trunk. In Wallenstein's time an elaborate Neptun fountain stood in front of Sala Terrena, which was complemented by four bronze sculptural groups on marble bases which stood between the fountain and Sala Terrena. Laocoon and the Wrestlers were probably standing side by side, the former symbolizing punished impiety and the latter defeated revolt. To the left of the group with Laocoon, in which resistance was condemned, the group with Venus and Adonis could have stood, in which the advantages of forethoughtful submission were celebrated. The group of Venus and Adonis would form a couple with the group of Bacchus and the little Satyr celebrating the blessings of the epoch of peace. The playful fight of Bachus and Satyr would form a contrasting pair with the deadly fight of Wrestlers at the opposite end of the row. All statues were made between 1623 and 1627 in the Prague studio of Adrien de Vries, former Court Sculptor to Emperor Rudolf II., Fučíková, Čepička 2007#, 443-444 (Eliška Fučíková), and Adrian de Vries characterized his statue as Groppa die mideinander ringen (group of those who wrestle with each other). The left wrestler is represented in a deep forward bend; evidently he is trying to pull the right wrestler down to the ground with both his hands. With his left he has grasped his opponent's shoulder and with the other hand his thigh. He is the aggressor; he started the fight, while the right wrestler only resolutely reacts to his action and successfully defends himself. He is represented standing firmly upright with legs apart, but he is not attacking, he holds the hands of the aggressor with both his hands so that he can force them away from his body. The right wrestler is evidently the winner, because in the next moment the aggressor will be lying on the ground. The allegorical content of the "wrestlers" is made clear by a laurel wreath which is represented on the ground, a prize waiting for the victor, who fought with honour. The Wrestlers might be a distant echo of an ancient Roman statue (today in the Uffizi) but most probably they were also an allusion to the defeat of the Bohemian rebels in 1620.
Kresba perem na papíře (280 x 186 mm). Dvě ženy oděné drapérií, jedna sedí a druhá klečí pod baldachýnem., Kazlepka, Zlatohlávek 2009#, 78-79., and Personifikace dvou teologických ctností - Víra a Naděje, má vztah k obrazovému cyklu Ctností (Mnichov, Alte Pinakothek, inv. č. 455), který je připisován Veronesově dílně.