Title page of the Second Book of Vistas of Bohemia

Countess Pauline Schwarzenberg, née Arenberg (1774-1810) was a famous graphic artist among the dilettantes in Bohemia. She learned basic graphic techniques and style from Antoine Cardon in her native Brussels. In Bohemia, where she moved after marrying Josef Jan Schwarzenberg in 1794, her work was greatly influenced by Schwarzenberg painter Ferdinand Runk, whose drawings were identified as direct models for some of the countess’ graphic sheets (excluding title pages). Most of Pauline Schwarzenberg’s graphic work is concentrated in two albums of etchings of landscapes printed mostly in Vienna and in later editions in Paris. The translation of several etchings into porcelain plate decoration, which was produced in Paris in 1810, contributed to the secondary distribution. The range and theme of her first album (1804) are reflected in its name Sixteen Vistas from the Count Schwarzenberg Domain in Bohemia As Etched by Pauline Schwarzenberg. The following album - Second Book of Vistas of Bohemia (1805) - includes fifteen landscape views, which also capture Schwarzenberg domain locales in different regions.