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95Travel—Wenzel
Jamnitzer
Tirol had commissioned this from Jamnitzer in 1556, just after Strada’s return
to Nuremberg from his travels to Lyon and Rome.57 At the time Jamnitzer was
fully occupied with some commissions from the Archduke’s elder brother,
Archduke Maximilian, King of Bohemia, and suggested that meanwhile some
‘kunstlichen Maler’, or ‘artful painter’, could execute one or more designs
(‘Visierungen’) for the Archduke’s project. For this job he proposed Strada,
whose letter to the Archduke on this account he enclosed with his own.58
Strada’s letter provides a detailed impression of his own conception of his
task: he maintained that for such a large piece of work a single drawing was
not sufficient. First, it was necessary to be informed in detail about the Arch-
duke’s own wishes, after which it would be possible to prepare a detailed de-
sign; in fact the best thing would be to prepare a three-dimensional model,
to which the several masters charged with the execution could be referred.59
A well-considered iconography, closely following Holy Scripture, was of great
importance, and special care should be taken about the relative proportions of
the various parts, in particular the many ‘geschmelzte Thierlein’, little animals
cast in silver, that were intended to inhabit this splendid representation of the
Garden of Eden. It was, moreover, essential that the Archduke would appoint
some expert ‘sopradicapo’ or superintendent to coordinate and supervise the
eventual execution. Strada was obviously quite prepared to take on that job, on
the condition that he would be charged with the work as a whole, and that he
would be subordinated to no one but the Archduke himself.
This letter has been interpreted as an attempt to oust Jamnitzer as a de-
signer of the piece, a suggestion that is not warranted by the text.60 After all, it
was Jamnitzer himself who proposed Strada to provide designs, which implies
that he did not object to leave the supervision at least of the visual appearance
of the work to his one-time neighbour. Apart from providing the actual design
and a model of the piece, Strada considered himself capable of conceiving its
iconographical programme; his letter to the Archduke should be read not as
an attempt to oust Jamnitzer as a designer, but as an attempt to avoid having
to deal with some court-official instead of discussing his proposals with the
57 Docs. 1556-12-22(a); 1556-12-22(b); 1557-01-07; 1557-01-26; 1557-01-27; see Schönherr 1888;
Hayward 1976, pp. 46–48.
58 Docs. 1556-12-22(a); 1556-12-22(b).
59 Jamnitzer himself habitually prepared models of individual parts of his more important
commissions (Wenzel Jamnitzer 1985, pp. 405–419), such as the wooden model for the
Mutter Erde supporting the dish in the Merkelsche Tafelaufsatz (ivi pp. 406–408, cat. nr.
502) and figures and decorative parts for the Descalzas Reales reliquary (Pechstein 1966,
pp. 270–274).
60 This reading proposed in Schönherr 1888 and Hayward 1976, p. 46.
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book Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1"
Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court
The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1
- Title
- Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court
- Subtitle
- The Antique as Innovation
- Volume
- 1
- Author
- Dirk Jacob Jansen
- Publisher
- Brill
- Location
- Leiden
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-90-04-35949-9
- Size
- 15.8 x 24.1 cm
- Pages
- 572
- Categories
- Biographien
- Kunst und Kultur
Table of contents
- Preface XV
- Acknowledgements XVIII
- Acknowledgments of Financial Support Received XXI
- List of Abbreviations XXII
- Introduction: The Image—Or from Whom (Not?) to Buy a Second-Hand Car 1
- 0.1 The Portraits of Jacopo and Ottavio Strada 1
- 0.2 Why are These Portraits so Special? 4
- 0.3 Motions of the Mind 4
- 0.4 What is Known About Strada: Early Notices 9
- 0.5 Quellenkunde: Some Sources Published in the NineteenthCentury 15
- 0.6 Kulturgeschichte before World War II 19
- 0.7 Romance: Josef Svátek and the Rudolfine Legend 21
- 0.8 A (Very) Modest Place in the History of Classical Scholarship 24
- 0.9 Contemporary Scholarship 25
- 0.10 What Has Not Been Written on Jacopo Strada 37
- 0.11 Weaving the Strands Together: The Purpose of this Study 39
- 1 Early Years: Family Background, Education, Giulio Romano 45
- 2 Travel: Rome, Landshut, Nuremberg—Strada’s Connection withWenzel Jamnitzer 67
- 3 In Hans Jakob Fuggers’s Service 107
- 3.1 Hans Jakob Fugger 107
- 3.2 Fugger as a Patron and Collector 114
- 3.3 Fugger’s Employment of Strada 121
- 3.4 Architectural Patronage for the Fuggers: The DonauwörthStudiolo 134
- 3.5 Strada’s Trips to Lyon 137
- 3.6 Strada’s Contacts in Lyon: Sebastiano Serlio 149
- 3.7 Civis Romanus: Strada’s Sojourn in Rome 156
- 3.8 Commissions and Purchases: The Genesis of Strada’s Musaeum 174
- 3.9 Departure from Rome 183
- 4 Antiquario Della Sacra Cesarea Maesta: Strada’s Tasksat Court 188
- 4.1 Looking for Patronage: Strada’s Arrival at the ImperialCourt 188
- 4.2 The Controversy with Wolfgang Lazius 200
- 4.3 ‘Obwol Ir.Maj. den Strada selbst dier Zeit wol zu geprauchen’: Strada’s Tasks at Court 210
- 4.4 Indirect Sources Throwing Light on Strada’s Employment at Court 242
- 4.5 Conclusion 248
- 5 Jacopo Strada as an Imperial Architect: Background 251
- 5.1 Introduction: The Austrian Habsburgs as Patrons of Architecture 251
- 5.2 The Prince as Architect: Ferdinand I and Maximilian II asAmateurs and Patrons of Architecture 255
- 5.3 ‘Adeste Musae’: Maximilian’s Hunting Lodge and Garden in the Prater 290
- 5.4 The Imperial Residence: Status quo at Strada’s Arrival 307
- 5.5 The Architectural Infrastructure at the Imperial Court 319
- 5.6 Strada’s Competence as an Architect 331
- 6 Strada’s Role in Projects Initiated by Emperor Ferdinand I 339
- 7 An Object Lesson: Strada’s House in Vienna 367
- 8 The Munich Antiquarium 383
- 9 The Neugebäude 430
- 9.1 The Tomb of Ferdinand I and Anna in Prague; Licinio’s Paintings in Pressburg 431
- 9.2 Kaiserebersdorf and Katterburg 432
- 9.3 Sobriety versus Conspicuous Consumption 437
- 9.4 Hans Jakob Fugger’s Letter 438
- 9.5 Description of the Complex 441
- 9.6 The Personal Involvement of Emperor Maximilian II 455
- 9.7 Ottoman Influence? 463
- 9.8 Classical Sources: Roman Castrametatio and the Fortified Palace of Diocletian at Split 467
- 9.9 Classical Sources: Monuments of Ancient Rome 480
- 9.10 Contemporary Italian Architecture 489
- 9.11 Strada’s Contribution 500
- 9.12 Conclusion: Strada’s Role in the Design of the Neugebäude 507
- 10 Other Patrons of Architecture 514
- 10.1 The Courtyard of the Landhaus in Graz 514
- 10.2 The Residence for Archduke Ernest 517
- 10.3 Other Patrons: Vilém z Rožmberk 520
- 10.4 Jan Šembera Černohorský z Boskovic and BučoviceCastle 524
- 10.5 Christoph von Teuffenbach: The House in Vienna and the Castle at Drnholec 530
- 10.6 Reichard Strein von Schwarzenau and the Castle at Schwarzenau 534
- 10.7 Conclusion 542