Page - 862 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 2

Chapter 16862 16.5.10 ‘Queste cose meglio si danno ad intender a bocca et con l’operare che con lettere’ Given the accessibility of Strada’s Musaeum, it can be concluded that its contents schooled the taste of his patrons, their courtiers, the artists they employed, and others having access to it. This included the members of the dynasty themselves, such as the young Rudolf ii and his brother Ernest, who appear to have learned to draw in Strada’s studio and after his models. The tone of the passage in Strada’s letter to Dietrichstein which allows this conclusion, shows how much Strada was convinced of the value of draughtsmanship, and of drawing as a source of knowledge and an aid to understanding. He trans- lated this conviction into practical didactic activity at least in the case of the two Archdukes and of his own sons Paolo and Ottavio—in the latter case with conspicuous success.44 Such didactic use, and more in general Strada’s own explanations of the materials of his Musaeum and his demonstrations of the use to which they could be put, were as important for the effect of his efforts as the presence of these materials in itself. Much of the material would not have been easily comprehensible to those who saw it for the first time: even the vaunted ‘sim- plicity’ of Serlio’s writings would become more accessible to local patrons and practitioners when the finer points were explained by Strada in person. When in December 1556, at Jamnitzer’s suggestion, Strada offered his services to Archduke Ferdinand, he said as much, offering to come to Prague for a per- sonal interview with the Archduke because ‘those things are better explained by word of mouth and in demonstration than by correspondence’.45 In a simi- lar way Strada’s comments on the history and iconography of the works of art he owned or had had documented, on the significance of the inscriptions and the images on the ancient coins he could show, on the rules of Vitruvius as applied in Serlio’s manuscripts, and on the designs he provided himself for projects at court, enhanced the value of his materials, as did his account of his first-hand experience of their context, his personal acquaintance with the authors and artists of such works, and often even with their patrons. All these contributed to the acceptance of his materials as authoritative models for em- ulation, as did the high standing of the magnates and princes who had patron- ized his own activities—the Marquis of Marignano, Hans Jakob Fugger, Vilém z Rožmberka, the Duke of Bavaria and the Emperor himself. Such patronage invested his expertise with a matchless authority—matchless at least among the artists active at court. 44 Cf. Chs. 11.5 and 14.2. 45 Doc. 1556-12-22.