Page - 803 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 2

803Student of Antiquity June 1559, he states to be ‘conossiuto per mondo provisionato da la Cesarea et [Vostra Maestà] per Jacomo Strada Antiquario’. Strada indignantly protested against Wolfgang Lazius having referred to him as a mere goldsmith, which Strada calls ‘l’arte ch’io ho da putto imparato’, and makes a clear distinction between this ‘arte’—that is ‘craft’ or ‘trade’—and his ‘proffessione’, which is devoted to ‘le cose dell’antichità’. Strada claims that he could be outstanding in this, his chosen profession, just because he had mastered the trade of the goldsmith, so looked down upon by Lazius. Lazius’ libel in fact had shown … to Your Majesty and to the world how much I know and can do in my profession, in which I have not limited myself merely to know the names and to recognize the portraits of the ancient personalities [depicted on the coins], but have learnt by long and assiduous study not only to draw them on paper, but also to model them both in gold and other metals and in marble.10 Strada’s understanding of the antiquary as a profession was not limited to numismatics, his own specialism and the subject of this letter. Besides docu- menting ancient coins, Strada himself also engaged in measuring Roman ruins and commissioned documentation of ancient sculpture and other figurative antiquities from other artists, implying that all such remains of ancient civili- sations were worthy of careful study and were relevant to his ‘profession’ as an antiquary. Strada asserted that the knowledge of such material remains, and the art of correctly interpreting them, required both practical experience and specialized knowledge. These are professional qualifications: so, …if Doctor Lazius, even though he is an erudite and learned historian, would remember that Greek proverb, he would not pretend to judge the profession of others, for it is not right that the cobbler should judge beyond his last.11 This implies that Strada thought of the antiquary as someone contributing to the study of Antiquity in particular by a profound appreciation and knowledge of its material remains, which he collected, documented and studied in the 10 Doc. 1559-06-00; Jansen 1993(a), pp. 233–235; cf. above, Ch. 4.2. In an earlier letter to King Ferdinand I [Doc 1558-02-21b] Strada had explained the insufficient result of the coin- catalogue planned by Lazius and the local engraver Hans Sebald Lautensack by their lack of ‘professional’ experience. 11 Doc. 1559-06-00, Strada to Maximilian ii; Jansen 1993(a), pp. 233–235; cf. above, Ch. 4.2.