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Description
‘Der Thronhimmel’ (‘The Baldachin’ or ‘Le Baldaquin’)
Biography: Werner Peiner
Final design for the huge Gobelin ‘Der Thronhimmel’ for Carinhall, created in 1939/1940.
The unfinished Gobelin tapestry ‘Le Baldaquin’ based on this design, is in the possession of the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Detail of the unfinished tapestry ‘Le Baldaquin’ based on this design, in the possession of the Louvre Museum in Paris. https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/mnr/OAR00607
The design of ‘Der Thronhimmel’ was displayed at the exhibition ‘Nazi Design’, Design Museum Den Bosch, The Netherlands, 8 September 2019 – 1 March 2020. This world-wide highly publicized exhibition attracted over 130.000 visitors in six months. The exhibition was covered on the front page of the New York Times and Bild, and i.a. in the Guardian, Le Monde, Le Figaro, Paris Match, Spiegel, Welt, Tagesspiegel, El Pais and all Dutch newspapers. On television the exposition was covered i.a. by the ARD, ZDF, DW News, Aljazeera, AFP News Agency, SBS World News, and all mayor television chanels in The Netherlands. Because of the enormous popularity of the exhibition, the museum extended opening hours, opened its doors also on Mondays, and finally it extended the exhibition by 6 weeks.
The Design of ‘Der Thronhimmel’ was also displayed at the exhibition ‘Monoculture, -a Recent History’, in the Museum of Contemporary Art in the city of Antwerp, September 2020 – April 2021. Described and depicted in the exhibition catalog.
‘Der Thronhimmel’
This is the final design by Werner Peiner for a huge Gobelin tapestry for the library of Carinhall, the country residence of Hermann Göring. Carinhall, the destination for many of Göring’s looted art treasures from across occupied Europe, was built on a large hunting estate northeast of Berlin.
The Gobelin tapestry that was created based on this design measured (planned) 10,2 meters by 7,1 meters; in total 72,2 square meter, 5 square meter more then the largest gobelin in the possession of the Louvre. The manufacturing took place in Paris (for several years) by the famous ‘Manufacture des Gobelins’ at the 42 avenue des Gobelins. Manufacture des Gobelins has, in its almost 350-year history, woven notable tapestries for kings of France -like Louis XIV- Napoleon and the three French Republics. It is now run by the French Ministery of Culture. ‘Der Thronhimmel’ was not yet finished when the Americans liberated Paris in 1944. Nowadays this unfinished Gobelin tapestry is in the possession of the Louvre Museum in Paris. The complete gobelin would have contained 3,5 kilogram of gold-threads.
Werner Peiner created four designs for two tapestries for the library of Carinhall. Two of these designs, ‘Der Thronhimmel’ and ‘Erdkugel’ (‘Le Globe Terreste’), were executed in Paris with the Manufactur des Gobelins. Because of their huge size, the production took several years and was never completed.
On top: Werner Peiner, Gobelin tapestry ‘Le Baldaquin’ (‘Thronhimmel’), Louvre Museum, Paris. Half-finished.** Size of this part: 7 x 4,6 meter. Tapisserie inachevée : Le Baldaquin – Louvre Collections
Below: Werner Peiner, Gobelin tapestry ‘Le Globe Terrestre’ (‘Erdkugel’), Louvre Museum, Paris. Half-finished. Size of this part: 7 x 4,6 meter. Tapisserie inachevée : Le Globe terrestre – Louvre Collections
Notice the allegorical figure ‘LAW’ (‘Gesetz’) pointing her sword at Engeland.
Left: final design of ‘Thronhimmel’.
Right: original design of ‘Erdkugel’.
Werner Peiner with a part of the gobelin ‘Le Globe Terrestre’. Date unknown.
From design to Gobelin tapestry
In the ‘Hermann-Göring-Meisterschule für Malerei’ in Kronenburg the original designs were, with the help of slides, copied onto huge cartons measuring 10 by 7 meters. The cartons, which each weighed 150 kilograms, were covered with canvas to which a watercolour paper surface was precisely and seamlessly attached. Using graphite pens, pupils of Werner Peiner drew the contours onto the cartons down to the smallest detail. Later watercolour and a tempera mix were applied. On average, three pupils worked on one carton, and, most of the time, two cartons (next to each other in the atelier) were made at the same time. The Manufacture des Gobelins in Paris used this carton to produce the Gobelin tapestry, which took several years and was never completed. The cartons as well as the designs were regarded as stand-alone art works; very often they were exhibited, amongst others at the Great German Art Exhibitions.
Left: the carton of ‘Thronhimmel’ in the atelier of Werner Peiner.
Right: the carton of ‘Erdkugel’.
Library of Carinhall: notice the shape of the ceiling at the background.
The photo right is in the possession of the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress.
Gobelin designs by Peiner belong to ‘Best French Masterworks of the last 100 Years’
Below: details of the gobelin ‘Le Globe Terrestre’ (‘Erdkugel’) by Werner Peiner. Displayed in 2018 at the exhibition ‘Au fil du siècle, 1918-2018 – Chefs d’oeuvre de la tapisserie’, organized by the museum Galerie des Gobelins in Paris. The exhibition shows ‘the best tapestries produced in France in the last 100 years’. All the displayed tapestries are in the possession of the French state. Planned size 10,2 x 7,1 meters; in total 72,2 square meter, 5 square meter more then the largest gobelin in the possession of the Louvre. Actual/realized size: 7 x 4,6 meter.
The gobelin was commissioned by the Nazi’s, paid by the Nazi’s (including the gold) and designed by a Nazi-painter.
Herald Tribune 1944. The Gobelin tapestry for the library of Göring’s Carinhall was produced in France but was not yet finished when the Americans liberated Paris.
Left: Göring’s telegram of November 29, 1939, to thank Werner Peiner for the 4 Gobelin-designs.
Right: administration of Werner Peiner (‘Karton f. d. Bibliothek Karinhall’). The designs (the larger kartons) were finished in 1940.
The two Gobelins for the library of Carinhall
Werner Peiner created four designs for two tapestries for the library of Carinhall. Two of these tapestries, ‘Der Thronhimmel’ (‘Le Baldaquin’) and ‘Erdkugel’ (‘Globe Terreste’), were executed in Paris with the Manufactur des Gobelins. Because of their huge size, the production took several years and was never completed. The Carinhall tapestries are now in the possession of the Louvre Museum, Paris.
Design of ‘Der Thronhimmel’, also displayed at the exhibition ‘Monoculture, -a Recent History’, in the Museum of Contemporary Art in the city of Antwerp, September 2020 – April 2021. Described and depicted in the exhibition catalog.
Design of ‘Der Thronhimmel’, at the exhibition ‘Monoculture, -a Recent History’, in the Museum of Contemporary Art in the city of Antwerp, September 2020 – April 2021.
Design of ‘Der Thronhimmel’ displayed at the exhibition ‘Nazi Design’, Design Museum Den Bosch, The Netherlands, 8 September 2019 – 1 March 2020.
| -condition | : III |
| – size | : 128 x 91 cm, unframed 102 x 63 cm |
| – signed | : |
| – type | : final desgn, watercolour |
| – misc. | : three repared cracks of 6 cm; some spots |
| – misc. I | : framed; museum glass; acid free cardboard on the back |
| – misc. II | : aqcuired from the heirs of Werner Peiner * |
* Described and depicted in colour in ‘Mäzenattentum und Kunstförderung im Nationalsozialismus’, 2010, by Nicola Doll.
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