The World of Pleasure [antikvár]

PrefaceThe World of PleasureOne does not have to be a philosopher to realize that it is more fun to work at enjoying life rather than to spend one's life working. The true business of living is not adding up columns of figures, or selling encyclopedias, or doing any of the thou-sand-and-one jobs by which people earn their living. It is, instead, learning to appreciate the things money cannot buy, such as enjoying one's friends, strolling and chatting, and reveling in nature and fresh air. Carpe diemseize the daythe poet enjoins.Not everyone, of course, has the means to follow this advice. Unfortunately, many leisure activities demand money and time as well as a certain education and curiosity. A pleasant and congenial environment also makes a major difference. The powerful, the aristocratic, and the wealthy of all nations and epochs have always recognized the delight of a luxurious residence and have often built themselves palatial retreats in which to relax and get away from it all. Despite the common denominators of comfort and often ostentatious privacy, these monuments vary considerably. They mirror the penchants and whims of powerful and opinionated men and women who could afford to build anything they wished.The Italians of the Renaissance discovered and perfected the civilized pleasuresof gracious homes. They called their leisure residences "luoghi di delizie" places of delightbeautiful villas set in well-kept grounds, amply spacious and conspicuously comfortable. In German, the name for such resplendent homes was Lust-schloss, or pleasure palace. Early in the seventeenth century, the powerful archbishop of Salzburg, Wolfdietrich von Raitenau, built such a palace on the outskirts of the city for his mistress Salome Alt and their fifteen children. Schloss Altenau, as it was called (for von Raitenau succeeded in having Salome elevated to the nobility and her name changed to Salome von Altenau) was a splendid Italian-style villa.But Salome was unable to enjoy her fine home on the bank of the River Salzach for long. Von Raitenau's political fortunes declined abruptly, and the palace (rechristened Mirabell) became the summer residence of succeeding archbishops. Two of Austria's most famous architects worked on the palace. Fischer von Erlach is thought to have designed the Baroque garden, and Lucas von Hildebrandt renovated the building itself. But in 1818, a great fire all but destroyed the palace. It was rebuilt soon after, and Salome Alt's Lustschloss now serves as Salzburg's municipal offices.A second German pleasure palace in this volume is the palace of Sanssouci atPotsdam, which was designed and built by Frederick the Great of Prussia. Frederick was a brilliant military leader who preferred to spend his time amid music and learned conversation with the most remarkable and cultured minds of his time. Voltaire once called him "the philoso-pher-king." Frederick himself chose the site for Sanssoucimeaning "without care"and drew up his own plans for the summer residence. He refused to give in to his architect's wishes for a grander palace befitting the powerful sovereign. Frederick instead insisted on a single-story building, so that he could walk directly out onto his grounds.Sanssouci is set discreetly on a low-lying hill. Below it, six tiers of flowing stairs and terraces of greenhouses for grapes and exotic fruits slope down to a lively fountain. Within, the rooms of the palace are formal and tastefully decorated. Frederick delighted in Sanssouci, and at the age of seventy-four ended his days there. Sadly enough, his desire to be buried in the tomb he had prepared on the topmost terrace of his garden was not honored, as it was considered beneath his dignity as a king.By contrast, the palace of the ma-haranahs of Udaipur, in the state of Ra-jasthan, northern India, is monumentally grand. In 1567, in the face of the Mogul invasions, the rana (maharanahs) of