Via Magnifica

The extensive and unique collection of rare paintings was founded by Bishop Karel II of Lichtenstein-Castelcorn in the second half of the 17th century. The Kroměříž section consists of nearly five hundred paintings displayed in the historical halls and the Chateau Gallery, while the other part is exhibited in the Archdiocesan Museum in Olomouc. The collection holds exceptional artistic value and is among the most significant in all of Europe. In the Chateau Gallery itself, you have the opportunity to view 85 selected original works by prominent European painters from the Gothic period to the Rococo era, including masterpieces by artists such as Titian and Van Dyck.

The institute of the Liege Court was used to resolve disputes among episcopal vassals or to punish them for offenses and crimes. This court met almost continuously in Kroměříž until the mid-19th century.

Even in the Middle Ages, a sufficiently large and representative room had to be designated for the Manský Court sessions, likely connected with the first episcopal residences in the town. Bishop Karel of Lichtenstein-Castelcorn placed one of the most important rooms on the second floor of the chateau. Like the entire second floor, the ceilings were damaged in a fire in 1752. The restoration was initiated by Bishop Ferdinand Julius Troyer of Troyerstein and completed by Leopold Bedřich Egkh of Hungersbach, who also signed a contract on March 10, 1759, with painter Franz Anton Maulbertsch to paint the ceiling of the hall, with the stipulation that the work be completed during four summer months of that same year.

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