Rudolf

Essay Plan

Area of Research: Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor 1576-1612

I will investigate the reasons for Emperor Rudolf’s collection and commissioning of artworks for his Kunstkammer during his reign, and how this practice developed his political reputation. I will attempt to clarify the extent to which his patronage stimulated culture in the Holy Roman Empire, through researching Rudolf’s bridging of artistic practice (in workshops etc) and high imperial society. A major theme which presents in his art collection, is the desire for exploration and acquiring knowledge of flora and fauna. Two works relating well to this theme include Gerhard Emmoser’s Celestial Globe with Clockwork (1579) and Roelandt Savery’s Study of a Tree Trunk. As an adventurous connoisseur, his underlying aims to promote himself with unachievable superiority, arguably god-like, is cleverly portrayed through allegory in Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s Vertumnus (1591) (and provides lots to talk about e.g. Encouraging communication between scholars and artists thus further intertwining and liberating artist‘s practice and higher/intellectual society).

Central Argument

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor 1576-1612, immersed himself in art patronage not merely to acquire knowledge of the great wonders of nature around the globe, but to console himself from his severely controlled political power. The action of supplying funds and work to underappreciated artists, and encouraging communication between scholarly and artistic groups, raised the status and appreciation of his art world to that of magnificence and exclusivity. This liberation of art propelled tales of Rudolf II’s magnificence through the courts and nobility, such that the elevated form of nature presented, many with elements of superstition, attested to the superiority of the owner. Disguising his support for the arts, principally due to the collapsed political world around him, as an avocation for peace made a bold statement about his ruling...