Page - 199 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1

199Tasks at the Imperial Court The Fasti et triumphi on the other hand, presenting a scholarly edition of the most important Roman inscription in existence, the Fasti Capitolini, was a book of far wider potential appeal and far greater utility [Figs. 4.6–4.7]. It was moreover a much more bulky volume, and more sumptuously printed. That Strada chose to dedicate this volume to Maximilian, rather than to the Em- peror himself, can perhaps be explained by Maximilian’s by this date generally known disaffection of Roman Catholicism: it would have lacked tact to pres- ent him with a book on the history of the Popes. Yet the dedication indicates that, after having established contacts with his father and his younger brother, Strada also wished to excite the interest of the young King of Bohemia and pro- spective Emperor. It seems to me that this was both because he had sanguine hopes of employment from this unusually erudite prince, and because he may have felt a deeper personal attraction for his aspirations and his character. Lit- tle as one can know about the personal sympathies of either, partly for lack of relevant sources, partly because of the veil under which a Renaissance prince had to hide his personal preferences, it seems that there was a sincere mutual esteem between them. This is suggested by Maximilian’s later acts of patron- age and the personal interest he would show in Strada’s projects, as well as by the despair Strada expressed when referring to Maximilian’s death, which had shattered his fondest hopes of lucrative patronage. Strada would not meet Maximilian in person until a year later, after he set- tled in Vienna in April 1558. We have no indication of the king’s response to the book that was dedicated to him. But it is clear that his father had been impressed by Strada’s capacities. Though we do not know what contacts, if any, Strada maintained with the Emperor during the rest of the year, from a request Strada presented to Ferdinand, dated Nuremberg 12 February 1558, we know that he had not been forgotten. The Emperor was staying in Nurem- berg on his way to the forthcoming Kurfürstentag at Frankfurt, during which the Electors were to confirm Ferdinand as Charles’ successor as Emperor. Not- withstanding his doubtless pressing political engagements, Ferdinand took the trouble to visit Strada’s house and to see his collection or Musaeum. Oddly enough Strada appears not to have been present in person, since he did not know what objects exactly the Emperor had inspected.18 18 DOC. 1558-02-12. The letter is not quite clear. It cannot be excluded that the visit Strada refers to had taken place on an earlier occasion: in that case probably during Strada’s absence when overseeing the printing of Panvinio’s books in the late spring of 1557, for instance when Ferdinand travelled to Prague after the Diet at Regensburg, which closed on 17 March. But it is clear that Strada had been received in audience shortly before writ- ing his letter, and he hoped to receive a reply before Ferdinand’s departure planned for the day after.