Takács Imre – Buzási Enikő – Jávor Anna – Mikó Árpád szerk.: A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria Évkönyve, Művészettörténeti tanulmányok Mojzer Miklós hatvanadik születésnapjára (MNG Budapest, 1991)
DACOSTA KAUFMANN, Thomas: Addenda Rudolphina
ADDENDA RUDOLPHINA THOMAS DACOSTA KAUFMANN While Rudolf II Habsburg (1552-1612) chose to reside in Prague, among his many titles he had been crowned king of Hungary, and many works made for him depict Hungarian subjects, including the wars with the Turks fought during his reign. 1 Though this paper is not concerned with the Hungarian aspect of Rudolfine art, the publication of a selection of hitherto unknown or previously misidentified paintings by some of the court artists may nevertheless be suitable for a celebration of the director of a major Central European museum, where numerous works that were created for this great patron are now housed. Despite the recent outpouring of articles, books, exhibitions, and symposia, or perhaps because of the broad attention that they have gained for Rudolfine Prague, many works by the court artists may still be discovered. 2 From the continuing flow of newly recovered material in all media, this essay will present paintings by Daniel Fröschl, Jacob Hoefnagel, Roelant Savery, Dirk de Quade van Ravesteyn, and Hans and Paul Vredeman de Vries. A newly identified portrait of the emperor himself provides a good starting point (Figure 1). This is a work 13 cm high, executed in miniature on vellum. The portrait is mounted on a wood stretcher, enclosed within an ebony and fruitwood frame. The emperor is seen as if placed behind a rounded arch, in the spandrels of which can be read, written in a modified gothicizing script, in the left corner the letter D, and in the right corner the letter F. These inscriptions assure the identification of this piece as the long-lost portrait of the emperor by Daniel Fröschl, whose initials it bears. The painting has the stamp of King Charles I of England: reference in the seventeenth-century catalogue of the English royal collection prepared by Abraham van der Doort refers to a portrait of the emperor „done by Mr freshley, the Emperor Rudolph limner," that was „given to your Matie by your Mats. Appothecarie Mr. John Wolfe Rumlor." In Vertue's 1757 edition of Van der Doort's catalogue, the painting was also recorded by Vertue as being „done by Mr. Frosley, the Emperor Rudolph's limner." It is possible that this work was sold by the Commonwealth in 1651, after the decapitation of Charles I. 4 During the following centuries, exact trace of it seems to have been lost, leading to mistaken identification, until the portrait appeared on the art market; it was correctly identified when it was sold along with other objects from the Deganay collection in Monte Carlo in 1987. 5 Painted in FröschFs characteristic stipple technique, this miniature conforms to a well-known portrait type of Rudolf II, that was repeated in several variations. In them the emperor is depicted wearing fancy etched armor, from whose shoulder blades hangs the chain of the order of the Golden Fleece. Rudolf also wears a lace collar, while a laurel wreath adorns his head. The specific source for Fröschl's portrait is an invention by Hans von Aachen, probably in the form of a painting, that was disseminated by an 1603 engraving by Aegidius Sadeler. 6 Fröschl's portrait closely follows this prototype, in a way similar to that known from his copies of other works with human figures. 7 This miniature differs from its predecessors, however, in the presentation of the emperor as an aged man, with grey-white beard, white hair, and thinner cheeks than those found in other portraits. Rudolfs countenance thus suggests that the portrait was executed at a date late in his life. Evidence for Fröschl's close association with the emperor during the ruler's waning years may perhaps illuminate the more personal variation from type found in this portrait, which offers an unusually direct depiction of the aged ruler, where Rudolf is less idealized than in any of the earlier versions. In Rudolf's later years Fröschl was charged with increasing responsibilities: in 1607 he became imperial antiquarius, keeper of the collections, and until 1611 drew up an inventory of the Kunstkammer; in 1611 and 1612 he was an imperial Kammerdiener; after Rudolf's death, accusations of his implication with the Protestant Union suggest that Fröschl had been closely involved in contemporary politics, and court intrigues. 8 In any event, the technique, scale, and mode of presentation of this portrait, which is probably one of the last contemporary images of the emperor observed during his lifetime, suggest that it was probably intended for a private individual, rather than for broader circulation. The next work to be considered dates from the approximate time of execution of Fröschl's portrait. This is another miniature on vellum, also now on the art market in Paris 9 (Figure 2). The miniature depicts a floral still life with beatle, butterfly, other insects, and shells set on a table on which a bouquet of flowers contained in a vase is
