Seite - 842 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Band 2

Chapter 16842 Novum Opus, as appears to have been the case, this alone would have brought him in close to 9,000 ducats. Yet even this would not have sufficed to cover the cost of his aristocratic style of life, and his huge investments in his col- lection and in his publishing projects. If we had Strada’s private accounts, we could draw more certain conclusions. But even the little we do know strongly suggests that—besides being an artist, a scholar and a courtier—Strada was a merchant: a merchant trading on the level of the Nuremberg patricians and the Nuremberg bankers of Italian origin with whom he rubbed shoulders, though of course not on the grand scale of the Fuggers. Nevertheless, his intimacy with Hans Jakob Fugger suggests that they were more than just patron and client: Fugger actually addresses Strada as ‘compare mio’, which implies a high level of mutual confidence, and their relationship may well have been that of busi- ness relations, as well as that of friends sharing many interests. So Strada’s salaries at court should be considered as retainer fees, rather than as the remuneration for a full-time job. This implies that Ferdinand i and Maximilian ii were eager to have Strada at their disposal, but that he was left free to earn money in other ways. In fact, as we have seen, he was given ample opportunity to work for other patrons, such as the Duke of Bavaria. Moreover, Ferdinand i and Maximilian ii not only allowed him more than enough time to invest in his business-ventures, but also explicitly supported his ambitious editorial projects.15 16.3.2 By Appointment to His Majesty the Emperor, Purveyor of Erudite Counsel…and Luxury Goods? This indicates that the retainer fee was also motivated by the Emperor’s wish to secure the presence of Strada’s collection, his workshop, and his enterprise in the immediate vicinity of the court. Such seems to have been Strada’s un- derstanding from the start: when in February 1558 he asked Ferdinand i to be accepted among his ‘virtuosi’ he tactfully suggested that he would be bringing his collection and workshop with him: I believe Your Majesty has appreciated, and also in its effects, my ardent wish to serve the most powerful House of Austria, and in what veneration and honour I hold it, having brought together various beautiful and rare things to serve it, not without great expense, and of this Your Majesty has seen a large part, as has the most illustrious and reverend Lord, the Cardinal of Augsburg.16 15 Cf. Chs. 4.4 and 14.6. 16 ‘Creddo che la Maestà Vostra habbia visto in bona parte, et anche con gli efetti il mio bon volere ch’io tengo di servir la casa potentissima d’Austria, et in quanta veneration et honor