Troja Palace

The palace's design has been influenced by French and Italian architecture and is mostly the work of French architect Jean Baptiste Mathey. The latter also built the palais Buquoy in Prague, currently the French embassy. Prior to Mathey, Domenico Orsi worked on the castle. Silvestro Carlone was the Master Builder. The stairs between the palace and the gardens are the work of two sculptors from Dresden: Johann Georg and Paul Heermann. They sculpted statues representing the fight of gods and giants. The terrace is decorated with a rare collection of vases made by Bombelli, also active in Slavkov u Brna, at Slavkov-Austerlitz castle (close to Brno). The central axis of the garden projects towards the spires of the St. Vitus Cathedral in the Prague Castle. The palace's main rooms is decorated with a magnificent baroque Habsburg's apotheosis. Many mythological elements are presented in this trompe-l'œil decoration. It was realised by the brothers Abraham and Isaac Godyn, painters from Anvers who arrived at the castle in 1690. Francesco Marchetti and his son Giovanni realised most of the other paintings in the castle. The palace was bought in 1922 by the Czechoslovakian state, which started a restoration in the seventies. Since this period the palace has been hosting an exhibition of Czech paintings of the 19th century: Josef Cermak, Václav Brožík, Julius Marak, Antonin Chittussi, Jan Preisler, Mikoláš Aleš.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troja_Palace