Seite - XVI - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Band 1

xvi Preface edition of the Seventh Book of Sebastiano Serlio’s architectural treatise is repre- sentative of his approach at its best. His significance for the cultural history of the sixteenth century should therefore be sought in his effort at dissemination of the ideas, values and artistic forms of the Italian High Renaissance, in par- ticular those of the Roman variant, which he had imbibed from an early age on through his training in the immediate circle of Giulio Romano. To understand the process by which Strada communicated his knowledge and convictions in the various non-Italian environments where he worked, in my conclusion I have found it helpful to interpret it in the terms of the paradigm of the dif- fusion of innovations: rooted in a very ample quantity of empiric sociological research in many different environments, this paradigm seems to present il- luminating parallels to Strada’s strategy and the effect of his efforts. This study is not only empirical but also contextual in intention. Strada owed so much of what he knew, what he did, what he disseminated, to the example of others, and he so explicitly tried to propagate his ideas and convictions in the environments he found himself in, that these environments themselves, their character and preoccupations, are of great importance to understand his ambitions and eventual actions. For that reason I have paid much attention to sketch these environments, not all of which will be equally familiar to every individual reader. I have not treated every phase of Strada’s career in equal depth. In particular his role in the development of the Munich collections of antiquities, which has been treated by others in much detail, I have only sum- marily discussed—except for his designs for the building conceived to house these, the Antiquarium, which are of paramount importance for an evaluation of his qualities as an architect. Though to some limited extent reflecting the chronology of Strada’s life, the book is structured in four parts: the first part sketches Strada’s background and his early career, including his connection with Hans Jakob Fugger, with Em- peror Maximilian II probably the most important of Strada’s patrons, and cer- tainly the one who had the greatest impact on Strada’s ideas and on his career. Its last chapter sketches his arrival at the Imperial court, and summarizes the concrete information we have about his functions as Antiquary and Architect to the Emperors Ferdinand I, Maximilian II and Rudolf II. The second part attempts to define Strada’s role as an architect, the part of his function in Vienna which has been least studied, and which has been greatly underestimated. It discusses not only his role in the architectural infra- structure at court and his contribution to Ferdinand’s and Maximilian’s proj- ects, but also his designs for the Munich Antiquarium and his own house in Vienna, and his possible impact on the projects of other patrons. Strada’s activities as an architect and as an architectural advisor were greatly facilitated by the huge collection of visual documentation in this field he had