In 2024, the Austrian National Library will once again be presenting six "special exhibits" from its extensive holdings in the State Hall, curated by the collection directors according to their specialisations. These will be accompanied by expert lectures (in German), which are open to the public free of charge.
In Byzantine Egypt, the business model of "delivery purchase" was particularly popular: the buyer paid in advance the price for a product that was only delivered at a later date. In the case of the wine delivery purchase here, the wine seller Aurelios Danielis confirms receipt of the full purchase price, the amount of which, however, is not stated at all. This is a striking feature, but need not be interpreted as some kind of deception; it is logical in that the price had already been paid, i.e. there was no outstanding debt. On the other hand, the seller's obligation to deliver the wine immediately after the harvest is regulated in considerable detail, together with a description of the quality of the wine. The large purchase quantity is remarkable, with 250 metra corresponding to about 1,350 litres.
The object is on display in the State Hall from March 26 until May 26, 2024.
The winner of our most recent online voting "The dream of flying. Of flying machines and balloon flights" for the special exhibit is "Vienna seen from a balloon – from the southwest" (Tinted lithograph, c. 1850). The winning object will be on display from July 29 until September 29, 2024 in the State Hall as well as at an expert lecture (in German) on July 30. The next online voting will start on May 13, 2024.
In the spring of 1846, spectacular flights by the balloon "Eagle of Vienna" caused a sensation in the Viennese press. Josef Franz Natterer from the famous family of scientists was also on board to take physical measurements. These balloon flights probably inspired the famous veduta painter Jakob Alt to create three views showing Vienna "from the balloon". It can be assumed that the then 58-year-old artist created the perspective of flight and sketched the city from an elevated viewpoint. The lithographs by Franz Xaver Sandmann show the views from the tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Upper Belvedere. The perspective from the southwest is the only illustration to show a balloon hovering over the Prater, with a man in a top hat waving a flag from the basket.
