Architect

Johann Lucas

von Hildebrandt

Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt was born in Genoa in 1668. He wasthe son of a German officer who was stationed in Italy and had subse-quently joined the Imperial Army. Hildebrandt first went to Rome tostudy with the architect Carlo Fontana. In 1695/96, following com-pletion of his studies, he served as a fortifications engineer underPrince Eugene of Savoy in Piedmont. Hildebrandt then moved on withEugene's troops to Vienna, and the Prince's patronage soon resulted inhis frequent employment as an architect by the imperial aristocracy.

Hildebrandt's secondimportant clientwas Imperial Vice-Chancellor CountFriedrich Karl vonSchönborn

In 1699, Johann Lucas Hildebrandt ap-plied to Emperor Leopold I for the post ofCourt Architect. One year later, he was ap-pointed Imperial Court Engineer. 1706 sawhim marry Francisca Geist, the daughter of aregistrar at the Court Chancellery. Hildebrandtbecame head of the Imperial Court Construc-tion Office in 1711, and he was raised to thenobility in 1720. His competitor at court wasthe architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, who was 12 yearshis senior. In 1723, following Erlach's death, Hildebrandt was finallyappointed to his desired office of First Architect to the Imperial Court.

Hildebrandt's extensive activities as a builder ranged from theconstruction of representative palaces and sacred buildings to com-pletion of the smallest assignments. His first important client, PrinceEugene of Savoy, initially employed him in Hungary to constructbuildings including the Savoy Castle( also known as Savoy Mansion) inRáckeve. Through Prince Eugene, he succeeded in expanding his circleof artistic activity east and south of Vienna. Hildebrandt's principal workis considered to be Eugene's Viennese summer residence- consisting ofthe Lower Belvedere( 1714-1716) and the Upper Belvedere( 1721-1723)

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