Page - 534 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1

Chapter 10534 sixteenth- and early seventeenth- century stucco ceilings that have recently been restored [Fig. 10.28]. With its quite huge bastion-like pavilions at the cor- ners of the main block [Fig. 10.27], this again appears to be a variation on the ‘palazzo in fortezza’ type, perhaps based on Serlio’s two related projects ‘Della casa del principe tiranno per far fare alla campagna’ [Fig. 10.29–10.30].28 Any speculation as to Strada’s possible involvement in the design for the main block must depend on future research providing more evidence as to its original appearance. Yet the castle preserves one feature relatively intact that does allow some further discussion: the entrance portal, originally part of the demolished gatehouse, which is dated 1583 [Figs. 10.31–10.32]. This is a beau- tiful example of Italian classical architecture, very close to Serlio and to Gi- ulio Romano, and in its sobriety close to Strada’s own house and the Stallburg. Considering that this is exactly the time that Strada was involved in projects at Bučovice, elsewhere in Moravia, I am tempted to tentatively attribute its design to him. In any case I think it can be considered as a prime example of the influence of Strada’s presence and of the documentary materials available to his patrons in his Musaeum. 10.6 Reichard Strein von Schwarzenau and the Castle at Schwarzenau There is still one more example where it seems possible that Strada’s materials and his personal comments on them may have influenced one—or perhaps even more—of a patron’s projects. The patron in question was Reichard Strein von Schwarzenau, a young and cultured member of one of the richest Prot- estant noble families from Lower Austria [Fig. 10.33].29 Born in 1538, he had studied in Padua and Strasbourg, after which he soon became a trusted servant of Maximilian ii, filling in quick succession ever higher posts. In 1567, when he was only 29 years old, he became president of the Hofkammer, the principal financial official at court. Already at twenty-one he had published in Geneva a small treatise on the genealogies of ancient Roman gentes, and he contin- ued this study with sufficient diligence to publish in 1571 a far more ample version, printed by Paulus Manutius in Venice, with a dedication to Archduke 28 Munich ms. of the Sesto Libro, bsb-hs Cod. Icon. 189, fol. 27v–29r. 29 The name was and is also spelled Streun; I have opted for the spelling used on the titlep- age of Reichard Strein’s own publications (see following note); on Strein, see Grossmann 1929; Evans 1973/1984, pp. 127–128.