Restoration of the Wall Paintings in the IIIrd Courtyard of Český Krumlov Castle

The wall paintings on the facade of the IIIrd Courtyard of Český Krumlov Castle come from the 1570´s. At some unknown point, likely in conjunction with the Baroque reconstruction of the castle, the murals were covered with a new layer of plaster. They were uncovered and restored (as far as we know, for the first time) in 1910 - 1913 under the irection of the Vienna restorer and painter Teofil Melicher.

Melicher partly retouched the preserved (about 70% of the facade) Renaissance murals and partly painted over them. In places where the original mural hadn´t survived, mostly at the first floor level, the areas around later window openings, and under windowsills, he reconstructed the paintings. Melicher´s written documentation and part drawn and part photographed documentation of the restorational work are stored in the State Regional Archives in Český Krumlov.

The murals in the III. Courtyard were restored for the second time in 1976-1979. Restoration work was entrusted to the restorers Věra Zemanová, Jan Hála and Vlastimil Lachout. They gradually carried out restorational research, stabilization of the plaster and layers of paint, and cleaning and removal or weakening of inappropriate retouches, overpaintings, and reconstruction on all walls of the courtyard. Then the disturbed plaster was filled in, original paintings (about 70% of the wall surface) retouched, the functional reconstruction work from 1913-1913 retouched, and the most damaged areas were newly plastered and painted. Finally the wall murals were conserved. Documentation of the restoration process from 1976-1979 is archived at the State office for protection of monuments in České Budějovice.

In order to more effectively preserve the wall material, plaster, and wall paintings on the III. courtyard, research was carried out in 1978-1979 by Václav Sokol and Jiří Ebenhöh to locate the source of humidity, including a proposal for its resolution. The research is stored in the State office for protection of monuments in České Budějovice.

The latest restoration of the paintings were carried out in the summers of 1997-1998. After the appropriate firm was selected, the work was entrusted to the restorers Jan Severa, Jiří Říha and Vladimír Říha. The objective of the restoration was poposed and work was supervised by Pavel Jerie (State Office of Monument Care Prague) and Petr Pavelec (State office for protection of monuments in České Budějovice). The objective of the restoration was to not change the essentially preserved and surviving appearance of the facade, while maximum emphasis was placed on rehabilitation of the original murals (about 70% of the wall area) and its nonagressive conjunction with later supplemental painted work.

The restorers carried out complex research of the paintings, and stabilized the surficial and deeper layers of both plaster and paint. Next the paintings were cleaned, inappropriate reconstruction work of overpainting and retouching was removed or weakened, disturbed plaster was filled in, and retouched areas and those areas which were the most badly damaged (ground floor and in some upper areas) were given new plaster and reconstructed with painted decorations (frescoes). Finally the entire painted area was conserved. Documentation of the restoration work from 1997-1998 is stored in the archives of the State office for protection of monuments in České Budějovice and in the offices of the State Castle and Chateau Český Krumlov.

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