If Habsburg rule was a severe blow to the nationalist aspirations of the Czech people, it was by no means an unmitigated disaster, especially for Prague, which was refashioned as a baroque jewel in the Austrian crown. Italian, German and indigenous artists all made distinctive contributions. The great Bavarian architects Christoph and Kilian Dientzenhofer were responsible for dozens of projects besides playing a role in the development of the Clementinum, the Loreto and the reconstruction of Prague Castle. Giovanni Alliprandi designed the Hartig and Kaiserstein Palaces in the Lesser Quarter and the Sternberg Palace on Hradcany, while Frantisek Kanka was responsible for the Cernin Palace on Petrin Hill, as well as for parts of the Clementinum and the design of the Vrtba Terraces on Karmelitska.
Sculptors too made their mark. Ferdinand Brockoff and Bernhardt Braun contributed many of the most effective statues on the Charles Bridge, while Johann Bendl added sculptures to the façade of the church of St Salvator in Krizovnicke namesti. Building on such a colossal scale made exceptional demands on the inventiveness of artists. Among those rising to the challenge were Karel Skreta, F Q Voget, V V Reiner and J L Kracker, whose paintings adorn the walls and ceilings of the most sumptuous of Prague’s baroque churches. Some of Skreta’s best work is in the gallery of St George’s Convent.
Habsburg patronage also brought some of the greatest musicians of the century to Prague. Haydn played the organ here and Beethoven visited in 1796, but the city’s closest associations are with Mozart, an Austrian whose reception here was much more enthusiastic than in frosty Vienna. During his first visit, in January 1787, he and his wife Constanze stayed with Count Johann Thun at his palace on the slopes of Hradcany (now the British Embassy).
The Mozarts returned in October for the premiere of Don Giovanni, guests this time of F X Dusek and his wife, Josepha — a noted soprano — at their suburban retreat, the Villa Bertramka. The score was completed here only just in time for the first performance, which took place at the Nostitz (Tyi) Theatre later in the month. In the autumn of 1791 Mozart was in Prague again, this time to oversee the production of a new opera, La Clemenza di Tito, commissioned by Leopold II for his coronation as King of Bohemia. Already ill and overworked, Mozart hurried back to Vienna, only to die there the following December. Leopold’s coronation was an attempt to mollify the Bohemian nobility, who were becoming restive under Habsburg rule. Part of Mozart’s popularity in Prague was because his audience there had detected an element of subversion in The Marriage of Figaro when it was played here: enough to make him a hero.