Jan Baptista Mathey

Jan Baptista Mathey (French Jean Baptiste Mathey, Italian Giovanni Battista Mathey) (1630 Dijon - 1696 Paris) was an architect and painter working in the Czech lands in the fall of the 17^th century. In field of architecture, he marks coming of the top baroque represented by the names Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel, Kryštof Dientzenhofer and Giovanni Battista Alliprandi within the Czech lands.

Training of Jan Baptista Mathey

He got trained a painter but we do not know none of his painting work today. He undoubtedly spent some time in Rome, the then greatest art centre of Europe. That is to say the Mathey's work does not show any marked influence of the then French architecture but quite unambiguous influence of the Italian - in particular the Roman - architecture can be noticed in it! Up to the present time, it is not quite clear how and where he learnt to design but according to a relatively likely hypothesis, he probably worked in some Roman architectonic studio as a draftsman. It would really give him a great opportunity to become acquainted with the most modern architectonic projects including the realized ones right at the source.

Mathey made use of this training when he came to the Czech lands together with the Prague's archbishop Jan Bedřich from Valdštejn in 1675 (still as a painter). Most of his projects were naturally carried out for the archbishop and his related noblemen and clerical orders. However, he also built for example in the Prague's Castle.

Work of Jan Baptista Mathey

Church of St Francis Rufinus

His first and the very best realized project was the Prague's Knights' Church of St Francis Rufinus near the Charles Bridge. In this seemingly simple building Mathey proved his perfect knowledge of the Roman architecture of the time. The surmounted central church with a cupola placed on the basis formed by the impressive mass of the nave with concave-cut out corners and the perfectly performed Doric ashlar façade would had been a very superior enterprise even in Rome. In Prague, such church surely looked to be a phantasm. It is also known that already the Mathey's contemporaries got the plans of this extraordinary building redrawn.

Archbishop's Palace

Mathey also designed reconstruction of the Archbishop's Palace in Prague in Hradčany. Here again he showed his masterful knowledge of the Roman architecture. He provided the middle part of the palace by a one-floor-higher observation pavilion, which was an absolute innovation in Prague. The palace façade was solved strictly axially, with a perfectly mastered morphology made in the stucco and with a stone portal and a balcony located above it.

Tuscan Palace

Similar characteristics even in "double" construction apply also to the near-by Tuscan Palace, sooner Trčkovský Palace. This spacious building dominating the upper half of the Hradčanského náměstí up to the present day, clearly illustrates the Mathey's architectonic mastery again. There is a couple of portals, the observation pavilions located behind them and a terrace set by statues representing the Antique Deity. While the Archbishop's Palace was composed to the central axis in the rhythm A-B-A, the Tuscan Palace uses even the rhythm A-B-A'-B-A where A' means just the presence of the observation terrace.

Summer-House Trója

The Šternberk Summer-House Troja is further important realized project of Jan Baptista Mathey. This building represents a classical Roman villa suburbana. It was not designed for permanent residence but only for holding festivities, dinners and concerts. That is why it was provided with a large garden, a game-park, a vineyard as well as other necessaries. In point of architecture, we come across a very precisely arranged building again, the centre of which is a large hall. It surmounts the rest of the building by one floor, similarly as the observation pavilions of the above-mentioned buildings. At the sides of the hall, there are lower side wings with chambers. Short little wings take up them on the square forming a relatively cozy room in front of the garden front face. Besides the large hall, the outline of the villa is also formed by a pair of staircase towers of the identical height. They served not only for communication but also for observation. The large hall is accessible up a really pompous double staircase set by statues by George and Paul Hermann from Dresden.

One more remarkable detail is connected with the summer house Trója, evidencing in writing the participation of Kryštof Dientzenhofer in construction of the summer palace. This document is incidentally the first evidence of the strike within the Czech lands. Finding of this document lead to the assumption that no Mathey but Kryštof Dientzenhofer was the real architect of the palace. Nevertheless, this deduction is wrong but it reflects the architectural practice of that time very well. That is to say, Kryštof was not only an architect but also the owner of a building company. As such, he naturally carried out including projects of other persons. In addition, Mathey could design but he could not (as well as Santini later on) realize his buildings because he was not a trained builder but he only disposed of a certificate of the painter's training. Of course, this certificate was not enough for the Prague's building guild representatives.

Other Mathey's Realized Projects

• Riding-hall, Prague's Castle
• Castle Duchcov
• Staircase of the castle Červený Hrádek by Jirkov
• Enlargement of the royal chapel into granaries, Monastery in Plasy, 1685-1686
• Reconstruction of the graveyard Church of St Wenceslas, Monastery in Plasy, until 1690
• Prelature, Monastery in Plasy, completed in 1698
• Church of St Michael the Archangel, 1685-94, Litvínov
• Church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary, 1694-1700, Horní Jiřetín
• Church of the Dolorous Virgin Mary in Mariánské Radčice
• Church of Virgin Mary, St George and St Martin, Martínkovice, 1692-1698
• Capel of St Catherine, Nynice 1699-1701
• Enlargement and reconstruction of the Church of St Barbara, Manětín

Relationship of Jan Baptista Mathey and Jan Blažej Santini

After the Mathey's death, Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel undertook and completed a lot of the Mathey's projects. The reason can be the fact that his father had worked, with Mathey. But it is also probable that Santini got trained right at Mathey's. For we know for a certainty that Santini was not trained with a member of the building guild. Moreover, Santini worked with the Roman architectural morphology with the same confidence as Mathey. In addition, Santini undertook including the Mathey's employers and took up him in his work. As mentioned above, these architects had also in common the fact that none of them was the architect trained according to the guild-rules.

Extracted from: "http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Baptista_Mathey"