Page - 97 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1

97Travel—Wenzel Jamnitzer delivered to Maximilian’s successor, Rudolf ii, in 1578, when it aroused the ad- miration of Duke Ferdinand of Bavaria, who found it so sumptuous and beau- tiful: ‘das ichs nit describiren kann’.64 Key to its interpretation is a description copied in the seventeenth century, which appears to reproduce a summary description of the complicated object by Jamnitzer himself. This includes a concise explanation of its significance, which is a clear exposition of the Impe- rial theme that was so dear to many of the aspiring absolute princes of the six- teenth and early seventeenth century, and which was particularly apposite at the court of the ruling Holy Roman Emperor. Independently Ralf Schürer and Hilda Lietzmann have suggested the probable function of this explicit example of Imperial representatio: they assume, probably correctly, that it was intended to be placed in the central room of the Neugebäude.65 Both authors suggest that Strada may have been involved in the conception and possibly the design of the Prager Brunnen. Though the sources on Strada have not yet yielded the confirmation of this suggestion that Schürer wished for, many arguments can be advanced for its acceptance. In the first place, though there is little factual evidence that de- finitively proves Strada’s involvement as an artistic adviser to the Emperor, it will be argued below that his role as such, already postulated by Lhotsky and Lietzmann, was an important component of his court functions. In view of his historical studies, which specialized in the iconography of the Roman Emperors and their successors, it is rather likely that—with other court hu- manists such as Johannes Sambucus, Gerard de Roo and Hartmann Jobst von Enenkel—he was consulted on the iconography of Maximilian’s dynastic fountain, in a similar manner as when he had been asked, shortly after his ar- rival at court, to give his opinion how best to finish the tomb of the Emperor 64 On the so-called ‘Prager Brunnen’, which was commissioned by Maximilian ii in 1568, but only delivered to Rudolf ii ten years later, see: Kaufmann 1978(b), pp. 120–121; Wenzel Jamnitzer 1985, pp. 231–235 (cat. nrs. 26–30); Schürer 1986; Lietzmann 1987, pp. 170–173; Pechstein 1988, pp. 232–235. 65 Schürer 1986; Lietzmann 1987, pp. 170–173. Lietzmann has argued that this room was deco- rated by the court painter Giulio Licinio, and she tentatively proposes that a series of twelve of his panels—now divided up between London, St. Petersburg, Turin, and two private collections—could have formed part of this decoration. These paintings repre- sent several scenes from Greek mythology and Roman history, respectively; they would more or less complement the iconography of the ‘Prager Brunnen’ They were probably commissioned shortly before Maximilian’s death, when the fountain was nearing com- pletion; cf. Lietzmann 1987, pp. 149–151; detailed description of the panels in Vertova 1976. I do not completely agree with Lietzmann’s valuable suggestion, and hope in future to be able to publish an alternative view of this very intricate question.