1724/33 Tremendous Completion
Duke Eberhard Ludwig decides to completely redesign his residential palace. First, structural alterations to the New Corps de logis are considered. Frisoni does not publish these plans until 1727 in a collection of copperplate engravings. At this point in time they are already outdated, as the Duke pushes through an enormous new building project. The New Corps de logis (Main Building) is to close off the Court of Honor to the south and turn the palace into a four-wing complex. Paolo Retti is responsible for supervising building.
On 10 September 1724 the Duke, his mistress Wilhelmine of Grävenitz and important high-ranking persons of the Court take up trowels and mortar buckets and lay the cornerstone for the New Corps de Logis. In 1727 the building already has a roof. The south garden side is the most important representative facade of the palace. The direct connection of the Beletage (principle floor) to the garden and other details are based on modern French examples.
The Theater and Festin Buildings (Festinbau) (1725/28) are independent buildings. They lie behind the wing buildings and are based on the pavilions on the New Corps de logis. The Festin Building is even provided with water pipes to permit the installation of fountains at courtly celebrations.
Two connecting galleries connect the new tract to the enlarged courtyard in 1727/29. Carlone paints the fresco "Tribute of the Arts and Sciences to the Duke" (Huldigung der Wissenschaften und Künste an den Herzog) on the ceiling of the Gallery of Ancestral Portraits (Ahnengalerie) in 1731/33. The scene with Alexander and Apelles was certainly important to the fresco painter in this context. This ruler in classical antiquity turns over his favorite woman to his outstanding painter.
Directly following the Duke's death (1733), Frisoni and Paolo Retti are arrested, as they are accused of misappropriating the Duke's money and the local architects feel they are discriminated against in the placement of orders and their pay. The Italian artists in Ludwigsburg, who have benefited from the placement of orders by their fellow countrymen, actually put up the huge bail. The most important rooms of the New Corps de logis are completed. 1715/19 Initial Additions 1744/75 New Rococo Appointments