By Athina
Classic Monday dedicato all’imperatrice Maria Teresa e al “suo” lampadario.
Maria Theresa of Habsburg was the empress of reforms: she redefined the tax system, reorganized public education, simplified trade regulations, and supported new manufactures. (here a bio from the Treccani encyclopedia)
This “enlightened sovereign” went down in history for having healed the finances of her empire and made it prosper from every point of view. To her we dedicate the new appointment with our Classic Monday.
Among the countless merits of Maria Teresa there is also that of having inspired a chandelier that has become a timeless classic of lighting: the Maria Teresa chandelier precisely.
Designed in the first half of the eighteenth century in honor of the empress, this pendant chandelier quickly became the protagonist of the most sumptuous rooms in Europe.
Inside it hid a metal core finely coated with a thin layer of glass. This particular type of structure made it possible to create chandeliers of really considerable size.
From the central shaft protruded the arms embellished with all kinds of decorations in Bohemian crystal: drops, rosettes, pendants, festoons …
The skill of the craftsman was revealed above all in the ability to harmoniously balance the crystals: an overload of the latter could give rise to a showy and inelegant result.
Our chandelier protagonist of this event is made between nineteenth and twentieth centuries measuring over a meter in diameter. It has six arms enriched with cords and pendants made of both glass and crystal. It also has an iron core, in this case gilded, covered in glass.
It is a perfect example of how the Maria Theresa model has been and continues to be reproduced and reinterpreted without losing a shred of its magnificence.
The Empress played an active role in the flourishing of high craftsmanship during her reign by encouraging exchanges and collaborations within and outside the borders of the Empire.
It was from the collaboration between the Bohemian craftsmen and the Venetian glassmakers that these splendid chandeliers were born, so loved by Maria Theresa.
The refinement and royalty that distinguish them have decreed their success, but versatility is perhaps the most interesting aspect. It is in fact a chandelier that lends itself to furnishing and illuminating both the most classic and refined environments and the modern ones, bringing you a decidedly imperial touch.
