Path of Arts

The extensive and unique collection of rare paintings was established by the Bishop of Olomouc, Karel II of Liechtenstein-Castelcorn, in the second half of the 17th century. The first part of this collection – which is located in Kroměříž – consists of nerly five hundred paintings displayed in the historic halls and in the Chateau Picture Gallery, while the second part of the collection is exhibited in Archdiocesan Museum in Olomouc. The collection holds exceptional artistic value and ranks among the most significant in Europe. Within the Chateau Gallery itself, visitors can view approximately 85 selected original works by leading European painters from the Gothic period to the Rococo, including artists such as Titian and van Dyck.

The institution of the liege court served to resolve disputes between the bishop’s vassals and, when it was necessary, to punish offences and crimes. The court had its seat in Kroměřiž and it assembled on set dates during the year almost continuously until the mid-19th century.

As early as the Middle Ages, a sufficiently large and representative hall must have been designated for the sessions of the manorial court, probably connected with the first episcopal residences in the town. Bishop Karel II. of Liechtenstein-Castelcorn placed this very important hall on the second floor of the castle. Like the rest of this floor, the ceilings were destroyed by fire in 1752. Restoration was initiated by Bishop Ferdinand Julius Troyer of Troyersteinen and completed by Leopold Friedrich Egkh of Hungersbach, who on 10 March 1759 entered into a contract with the painter Franz Anton Maulbertsch for the decoration of the hall ceiling, stipulating that the work was to be completed during the four summer months of that year.

The walls of the hall are covered with artificial marble – stucco lustro. The figurative and ornamental decoration of the hall was commissioned from the sculptor František Ondřej Hirnle, who also worked on the restoration of the library.