Page - 247 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1

247Tasks at the Imperial Court 4.4.4 Private Patrons Finally some reference should be made to other patrons who made use of Strada’s services: these were never as comprehensive as those rendered to the Emperor or the Duke of Bavaria. His activities on behalf of Hans Jakob Fug- ger have been already discussed in detail: Strada’s erudite, numismatic studies were encouraged and sponsored, though perhaps not explicitly commissioned by Fugger, in contrast to the production or acquisition of objects for his col- lections: libri di disegni (including the results of Strada’s research, in the first place the numismatic corpus), books and maps for his library, antiquities and, occasionally, contemporary works of art for his studio. There is no concrete indication that Strada was involved in any architectural or decorative project of Fugger’s, whose artistic patronage is ill documented, and may not have been as extensive as that of some of his relatives. What is particularly remarkable is the close and cordial relationship existing between patron and client, tending towards the partnership of those sharing absorbing interests, rather than that of master and servant. Strada’s relationship with the Bohemian magnate Vilém z Rožmberka must have been of considerable importance: in a letter of 18 December 1573 Strada refers to ‘die alte kundschaft’. It certainly included the supply of objects for Rožmberk’s library, to wit a drawing of the complete spiral frieze of the Column of Trajan in Rome, mounted on four long paper scrolls housed in a small cabi- net, and a manuscript copy of Strada’s eleven-volume description of ancient coins, the A.A.A. Numismatωn Antiquorum Διασκευέ. In view of Strada’s dedi- cation to Rožmberk of his edition of Serlio’s Settimo libro it is very tempting, however, to assume that he had also been involved in his patron’s architectural projects, most likely his palace in the precincts of the royal castle, the Hradčany, at Prague.103 In 1583 Strada visited the Moravian nobleman Jan Šembera Černohorský z Boskovic at his castle at Bučovice, where the sumptuous deco- ration of a suite of small rooms, a typical studiolo ambiente, was in course of ex- ecution [below, Figs. 10.16–10.22]. Though again it cannot be definitely proved, 103 DOC. 1573-12-18; Serlio 1575, dedication. Rožmberk’s commission of the version of the Διασκευέ in the Czech National Library in Prague is demonstrated by the initials W R (Wilhelm von Rosenberg) on the title pages, combined with its provenance from the Je- suit college in Český Krumlov, Rožmberk’s principal residence. Strada’s connection with Rožmberk is discussed in greater detail below, Ch. 10.3. Another possible link between Strada and Rožmberk is suggested by the material on various waterworks, such as foun- tains, watermills, pumps etc. which Strada brought together and were published by his grandson in various editions in the early seventeenth century; these might have been use- ful to Rožmberk who derived a considerable proportion of his revenue from the immense artificial fishponds at his domain at Třeboň in Southern Bohemia; cf. Jansen 2002, 50–51 (in Italian) and pp. 222–223 (in English).