Bright ride, dark ride - Austrian imperial carriages, paintings by Johann Erdmann Gottlieb Prestel, circa 1848-51

 

Goldene Imperialwagen (golden imperial carriage) - Court gala carriage with eight-horse train, circa 1851.

Hoftrauer-Galawagen mit Achterzug (court mourning gala carriage with eight-horse train), circa 1848-50.

The two paintings were probably commissioned on behalf of the imperial court's "Office of the Master of the Stables." The carriage shown in the first painting, which in some instances is referred to as a coronation coach, is attended by lackeys and postillions dressed in the so-called "Spanish livery" of black and yellow velvet. This livery, which was only worn on the most important state occasions, has been preserved, along with the horses' harnesses - most of which date back to the eighteenth century - and the coach, itself.

In both paintings can be seen the Imperialzug - a team of eight horses - made up of white Kladruber stallions. The Kladruber (Czech: Starokladrubský kůň) is the oldest Czech horse breed - and one of the world's oldest, having been bred for more than four hundred years - and very rare. Kladrubers have always been bred to be a galakarossier, a heavy type of carriage horse for the court of the House of Habsburg.

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Reicher Krönungswagen "Imperialwagen" (Rich Coronation Carriage "Imperial Carriage"), probably built circa 1735-40 for Emperor Charles VI and later adapted several times. It was only used on the grandest occasions, and was reserved for the emperor, the empress, and the crown prince and princess.

Kaiserlicher Galawagen für die Hoftrauer (Imperial gala carriage for court mourning). The first documented use of this carriage was in 1764. Originally gilded and decorated with allegorical paintings, the carriage was adapted as a gala carriage for court mourning around 1820 by painting it entirely black; the decorative scenes on the carriages body, hidden under the black paint, were only rediscovered in 1930. 

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Johann Erdmann Gottlieb Prestel, "the Younger" (19 April 1804 Frankfurt am Main - 7 May 1885 Mainz), German painter and sculptor, best known for his animal portraits, especially horses; his original plans to work at the Frankfurt Riding School were only shelved due to his obvious artistic talent. The son of a portrait painter and engraver, he was orphaned at the age of eleven. When he was eighteen, he was accepted at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, but he also attended courses in anatomy and veterinary medicine. After completing his studies, he moved to Vienna, where landscape and animal painting played an important role at court and in aristocratic circles. After spending nearly eight years in Italy, he returned to Germany and married in 1841. In 1849 he was summoned to Vienna where he completed many important commissions for Emperor Franz Joseph and the imperial court. Offered prestigious positions by the emperor, he declined them all and returned with his family to Mainz in the early 1860s, where he later died at the age of eighty-one.