Page - 90 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1

Chapter 290 not have lightly made such an exception. It would not have entrusted the fame of the craft to a recent arrival lacking all formal qualification, and it is rather likely that the collaboration of a local master who could vouch for the quality of material and workmanship, such as proposed by Strada, was a condition for its consent. Yet Strada obviously did not intend to act merely as an agent for Marigna- no: in that case, he would have placed the commission with a goldsmith he deemed capable of executing it to satisfaction, such as Jamnitzer, and have left the details to him. His insistence on having the work made in his own house indicates that he rather acted as a contractor, who undertook to organize the execution of the commission and held himself fully responsible for the result. This means that he not only purveyed the materials and engaged the necessary artisans, but that he also provided the designs and supervised their execution closely. But it remains an open question whether he himself participated in the actual forging of the object to any considerable extent. 2.5.3 Strada’s Contacts with Wenzel Jamnitzer Strada’s colleagues cannot have been too happy to see such a large commis- sion go to a foreigner, who was not even a member of their craft. Yet the most obvious competitor, the celebrated goldsmith Wenzel Jamnitzer (1508–1585) Figure 2.12 Valentin Maler, Portrait-medal of Wenzel Jamnitzer, 1571.