Ändring, återställning och dokumentation En studie av Stockholms slotts Västra trappas behandling och betydelse genom tre århundraden

Abstract

The topic for the thesis is a study of the history of the Western Staircase from the early 18th century at the Royal Castle and the ideals that have led the stylistic alterations in its enviroment. The purpose of the study is to increase understanding of the Western Staircase´s history focusing on changes made to the environment. The research objectives are to document the alteration history of the Western Starcase, connecting these adaptions to the aesthetic ideals and/or restoration principles of each era and finally investigate how these adaptions have been documented. The investigation result was a conclusion that the Western Staircase only in the early 20th century was treated with culture heritage as priority. Earlier, the Western Staircase was an environment that followed changing aesthetic ideals and aimed to represent royal power. The content of the documentation is governed by this development. As new caretakers, more aware of culture history, seized responsibility in the 20th century, the demands for proper documentation increased. In spite of this, it is only during the early 21th century that the restoration efforts in the environment have been subject to full documentation with present-day documentation demands as the ambition.