Coach House – the carriage of Bishop Ferdinand Julius Troyer

The ceremonial carriage of Cardinal Ferdinand Julius Troyer is one of the unique exhibits at the Archdiocesan Museum. Despite it blinding the eyes with its golden Baroque shine, very little was known of its origins until quite recently. The three-tonne carriage, which with its six horses reached sixteen metres in length, was purchased by Bishop Troyer in 1746 in Vienna along with two other carriages which are still in the collections of the Archbishopric of Olomouc. They were all bought "second-hand", and he had them rebuilt at great cost.

Only through their restoration do we know that the original owner of the carriage was probably Louis François Armand du Plesis, Duke de Richelieu, the envoy of the French King Louis XV at the Imperial Court in Vienna. Parts of the surviving older decorations discovered during the restoration suggest that the carriage was made in the first quarter of the 18th century in Paris.

The carriage cabin is decorated with paintings of the four elements represented by ancient gods. On the right side of the cabin, Neptune is symbolized by water on a chariot drawn by a double-breasted sea horse. The left side is dedicated to the allegory of air in the form of Aeolus, surrounded by the winds of the four sides of the world. On the front wall of the cabin is shown the goddess of earth, Ceres, on a wagon drawn by dragons. The element of fire is depicted by a scene from Vulcan’s workshop, which is located at the bottom of the back wall. In its upper half there is an oil painting on canvas with the allegorical theme of Triumph renewing Day over Night, the work of the imperial court painter Michelangelo Unterberger.

The four essential elements combine the symbolism of the ever-recurring daily cycle - eternity, transience and cyclicality. The decorations thus symbolically remind us of the uninterrupted renewal of the princely and ecclesiastical office that occurs with every new bishop.

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In the Coach House, we can see how this magnificent carriage appeared in use in the unique panoramic image of the ceremonial entrance of Cardinal Ferdinand Julius Troyer to Olomouc on the occasion of his enthronement, or commissioning, into his official role.