Page - 114 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1

Chapter 3114 3.2 Fugger as a Patron and Collector This statue, however, does not commemorate Fugger’s commercial success or his political achievements, but is dedicated to the memory of the ‘Beförderer der Wissenschaft’, that is to Fugger’s extraordinary importance as a patron of learning. Learning in which Fugger himself was very far from deficient, and in which he doubtless would have played a much more important active role, had his position and pressing responsibilities not prevented him. This is most clear from Fugger’s short treatise on the history of the Schmalkaldic Wars: written by an engaged observer who himself had to some extent participated in the conflict, and based on the many sources to which he had exclusive access, it remains a most informative and illuminating document for the political and religious history of the years preceding the Augsburg Interim.8 Fugger’s particular interest in history is further borne out by two other works that for centuries have been erroneously attributed to his pen. The first of these is the Gehaim Eernbuch Mans Stammens und Namens des Eerlichen und altloblichen Fuggerischen Geschlechts, a history and genealogy of his fam- ily that he commissioned from the Augsburg archivist Clemens Jäger and the draughtsman Jörg Breu the Younger; it was written in 1545–1547 in collabora- tion with and under close supervision of Fugger himself [Figs. 3.6–3.7].9 Fugger’s immediate contribution to the actual contents of a much more splendid commission, the famous Wahrhaftige Beschreibung zwaier<…>der alleredlesten<…>Geschlechter der Christenheit, des habspurgischen unnd öster- reichischen Gebluets<…>bis auf Carolum den fünfften und Ferdinandum den ersten, commonly known as the Ehrenspiegel Österreichs, was limited to its conception and general supervision. The text of this voluminous compilation of the genealogy and history of the Habsburg dynasty was likewise written by Clemens Jäger, and is of little moment: ‘kein Mensch wird jemals mehr aus die- sen Ungetümen sein Wissen zur bereichern suchen’, says Otto Hartig. But the profusion and splendour of its illustrations is truly exceptional, and it comes as no surprise that—some twenty years later—the Ehrenspiegel was copied on behalf of the Austrian Archdukes themselves.10 8 Autograph and clean copy preserved in BHStA, K. schw. 500/8 and A.K. schw. 543/4; cf. Maasen 1922, pp. 70–73. 9 bsb-hs, Cgm 9460; it is integrally accessible on-line through the digital collection of the Staatsbibliothek, persistent link: http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00042105/im- age_01 ; cf. Welt in Umbruch 1980, i, nr. 162, pp. 224–225; Rohmann 2004; Burkhardt 2004; Fugger im Bild 2010, Teil 1, pp. 31–95. 10 München, bsb-hs Cgm 895 and 896. Jacob Schrenk von Notzing made a copy for Arch- duke Ferdinand ii of Tirol, for which purpose the Munich original was sent to Innsbruck;