Institute of Art History of the Latvian Academy of Art Anna Ancāne ...

and analogies point towards the Riga Master Builder Bindenschu as the
possible author of the Dannenstern’s House project. Bindenschu was the
first architect to introduce the language of forms and treatment of order
typical of Dutch Classicism in Riga. The chronology of works of
Dannenstern’s House is consistent with the authorship of Bindenschu: the
master died one year before the completion of the building; he also
realised private commissions from Riga’s noble families on a regular
basis. His individual style is evident in the treatment of façade: classic,
pure forms are found next to a strongly emphasised entrance portal with a
rich sculptural décor. Consoles with acanthus mascarons feature in earlier
works by this architect, such as Reutern’s House entablature and
elsewhere. Already Sten Karling has paid attention to these consoles,
establishing these important details of attribution in the house designed
by Bindenschu in Pärnu (11 Rüütli Street, has not survived) and
Reutern’s House in Riga.
2.3. Other patrician houses
Alongside well known examples little researched but important objects
deserve mentioning, such as the house at 3 Mazā Grēcinieku Street (Kl.
Sünderstraße, 1683, pulled down in 1938) close to the Town Hall Square.
Wilhelm Bockslaff has noticed Bindenschu’s individual style in the
formal elements of the façade. There were six wide windows on the
three-floor façade; the windows were decorated with ear-shaped frames
and diamond-pointed rustication. The façade had no pilasters but a risalit
with triangular pediment and the motif of palm branches in the tympanum
made the centre of the architectural composition. Consoles with
mascarons crowned the cornice of the building, but corners were
rusticated. The façade concept of the house at 3 Mazā Grēcinieku Street
can be compared with the sketches by the 17 th century Saxon architect
Wolf Caspar von Klengel as well as with the sample drawings of the
“residential palace” (palaisartige Wohnhaus) by Michael Plancke. Along
with the Southern German influences, the building manifests analogies
with the sample from Scamozzi’s circle available in German translation
in Bindenschu’s library. The architect of this house interpreted the
principles of Palladianism, freely using early Baroque forms of Southern
Germany. But palm branches in the tympanum of pediment are typical of
Heroldt’s work, so this house might be the first result of cooperation
between Bindenschu and Heroldt in Riga. Lists of properties of that time
indicate that the building could belong to the Reutern family.
Building at 26 Mārstaļu Street also expressed the classicising spirit of
patrician homes and strived to demonstrate the same qualities on a
smaller scale. Similar construction concept and façade solution typified
the house at 3/5 Jēkaba Street as well as the house at 26 Jauniela that had
belonged to the Town Council Member Justus von Palmberg. In
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