Page - 224 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1

Chapter 4224 mentioned in the letter—and probably complemented with a stack of books— Classical and Italian literary texts, Classical mythology, Classical and Habsburg history, emblem books, Dürer prints—to be used as tools of reference. Some previous discussions had doubtless taken place: Pozzo had been informed in detail about the Emperor’s wishes, and when inviting his two Italian architects Schallautzer likewise must have explained the project to them. Moreover, if the scenes from the life of Maximilian i had been intended from the start, it is likely that Strada had been consulted beforehand. It can hardly be assumed that Pozzo could have invented and correctly executed no less that sixty-three such scenes without outside assistance, and Strada would have been the obvi- ous person to consult, in view of his historical expertise and the fact that he could communicate his opinion in the painter’s native language. During the discussion itself Strada would probably have had the leading voice. Though Schallautzer was a well-read amateur antiquary and doubtless well acquainted with recent Habsburg historiography, Strada’s historical eru- dition, based as it was on his first-hand research under Hans Jakob Fugger’s mentorship, at the very least must have equalled it. Moreover Schallautzer himself pretended no competence in artistic matters, and Ferrabosco’s exper- tise, based on his early training as a painter, was no match for Strada’s extensive and up-to-date knowledge of comparable decorative schemes in principal cen- tres of artistic creation such as Rome, Mantua and Venice; expertise he could moreover support with the graphic materials documenting such schemes he had in his possession—including Dürer’s Ehrenpforte.70 The only reason we know about this discussion was the absence of the Em- peror from Vienna, to whom Schallautzer had to report in writing. The only reason we know that further changes were made after Ferdinand had returned to his capital, is that Pozzo, years later, applied for some additional recompense in view of the extra work these had entailed. Except from regular reference to payments made to the artist in the course of his work, the sources are silent on the project, and therefore no definite conclusion on the responsibility for these changes can be drawn. Yet it is not very difficult to conjecture that Strada had a hand in these. It can be assumed that when Ferdinand returned to Vienna after his long absence he received his principal servants in audience, to hear their reports on current affairs. The progress on Imperial architectural commissions would have been reported by his Bausuperintendent, Hermes Schallautzer, and it would be surprising had no mention been made of the Innsbruck ceiling. If Ferdinand still had doubts about it, he could naturally consult the members of the committee that had prepared the recent Gutachten about the ceiling. On 70 Cf. below, Ch. 13.4.1