Thanks to NFTs, the House of Lobkowicz, a Czech noble family, has unveiled and reinstalled over fifty priceless works of art in their exhibition spaces in the Czech Republic. In October 2021, they created and exhibited the Lobkowicz Collections as part of a Non-Fungible Castle event.
Because of this event and the NFT sales, historical art pieces have now been restored. Now, the NFT holders are receiving NFTs of famous artwork post-restoration as thanks for their support.
The House of Lobkowicz has fully restored over 50 pieces of art thanks to NFTs.
House of Lobkowicz NFTs help to restore priceless artwork
Interestingly, the noble family has chosen a unique approach to web3. NFTs have been critical in restoring the House of Lobkowicz art pieces. They aim to involve their community and involve them in the process of restoration in the form of ‘cultural philanthropy’.
Because of this approach, they have built a community that cares about culture, art, and preserving historical items. Significantly, they set the price of each NFT according to the cost of restoration.
The Non-Fungible Castle NFT collection
The House of Lobkowicz created three NFTs to make their enormous restoration project possible. Firstly, there was the Proof of Patronage NFTs, priced to match restoration costs. Secondly, Digital Explorations offered an insight into how digital technology can enhance and protect art.
For this, animation, music, x-ray and infrared helped to show the House of Lobkowicz art in a new light. Finally, the third series of NFTs offers a creative response to the original artworks by contemporary artists.
The House of Lobkowicz NFT project was a huge success, showing the power of NFTs. In the future, we could see similar projects focusing on cultural philanthropy.
Thanks to the success of the House of Lobkowicz NFTs, the noble family is releasing a new collection in November.
Historical art and web3 philanthropy
Several historic and culturally important artworks are among the pieces now fully restored. This includes A Wild Boar in a Landscape (1694), a painting that features in Wes Anderson’s award-winning film The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and Portrait of Doña Margarita Teresa Infanta of Spain, Archduchess of Austria and Empress (1662–1664. These are now on exhibition at the grand Nelahozeves Castle.
Perhaps the most challenging restoration project was the Chinese Belvedere. It is a room in the Lobkowicz Palace featuring elaborate murals and art dating to 1906.
What next for House of Lobkowicz NFTs?
Because of the Non-Fungible Castle experiment’s success, there are plans for a new project to continue bridging the gap between the traditional art world and web3.
Furthermore, thanks to the NFT collection, there is now a clear example of NFTs restoring precious art that others can use.
Moving forward, the House of Lobkowicz will “aim to explore how they can use blockchain technology to rediscover, share, and preserve cultural identity.”
The second edition of Non-Fungible Castle will take place on November 4th–5th. Furthermore, the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague Castle will host a free NFT exhibition from October 27th to November 14th.
