The Bergholtz Collection: Architectural Drawings of the Palaces in Jelgava and Rundale from Nationalmuseum (Stockholm)

The article deals with two Courland palaces built by the Duke ErnstJohann Biron in Mitau and Ruhental (today, respectively, Jelgava andRundale, Latvia) in connection with architectural drawings of theso-called Bergholtz collection, which is part of the Tessin-HårlemanCollection (THC) in Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. Twelve drawingsof the two Courland palaces make this collection of special interestto those interested in the art of the Baltic region.The first part of the paper is dedicated to the person of FriedrichWilhelm von Bergholtz and to his collection. Who was the creatorof the collection, what were the reasons to gather it and what otherdrawings are stored there? Born in the German duchy of Holstein,Bergholtz spent in all about 15 years in Russia. An extremely richand diverse collection of architectural drawings was gathered mainly(presumably totally) during his third visit in 1742–1746 as tutor ofKarl-Peter-Ulrich, heir to the Russian throne and future emperor ofRussia under the moniker Peter III. The circumstances of compilingthe collection and reasons for it are quite obscure. All the assumptionsmade by different authors remain mere guesswork. The greaterpart of the Bergholtz collection deals with St Petersburg and itssurroundings. All other drawings, numbering 174 in total, referto Moscow, to several provinces of the Russian empire and to theDuchy of Courland.The second part of the article reveals and describes 12 sheetsfrom the Bergholtz collection dedicated to the Baroque palaces inCourland constructed in the 1730s for duke Ernst Johann Bironaccording to the projects of the great architect Francesco Rastrelli.The research resulted in the discovery of seven sheets depicting plansand façades of the palaces in Ruhental, showing how they are almostexact copies of the original projects stored in the collection of theAlbertina museum in Vienna. Of the five drawings that representthe palace in Mitau, two are also copies of the Vienna sheets, andthree are copies of completed projects. Thus, the most valuable amongthe architectural drawings from the Bergholtz collection are threedrawings depicting the façade, and plans for two floors, of the palacein Mitau – the only known copies of Rastrelli’s project, the originalsof which have not yet been discovered.