A PASSION FOR ART The Collections of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm INTERMEZZO 06

JUNE 17 TO SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

In 2014 we celebrate the 400th birthday of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm (1614-1662). His exceptional and comprehensive collection forms a seminal part of the celebrated holdings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. This is why the museum has decided to dedicate its sixth Intermezzo exhibition to this little-known member of the house of Habsburg.

“… WITH BOTH SWORD AND QUILL …”

As the youngest son of Emperor Ferdinand II, Leopold Wilhelm was destined for a career in the Church. To ensure his financial independence he was elected bishop of Passau and of Strasbourg at the tender age of twelve; other ecclesiastical offices followed. But his life was mainly dominated by the Thirty Years’ War during which he twice commanded the Imperial army. His true love, however, were the arts. Even during the turmoil of war Leopold Wilhelm found time to compose Italian poetry. A contemporary described the Archduke in a poem as a fighter “with both sword and quill”, but he was equally known for his love of music.

IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME

In 1647 Leopold Wilhelm was installed as Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. During his time there his love of art exploded and he became a passionate collector – a Habsburg in the right place at the right time, following the example of his art-loving predecessors with abandon. After the upheavals of the English Civil War – Cromwell taking over the government, the execution of King Charles I – a number of important English collections were put on the market, some of them in Antwerp and in Brussels. Leopold Wilhelm acquired – not only from English sellers – over 500 Kunstkammer objets d’art made of marble, bronze or ivory, as well as sculptures, tapestries and around 1400 paintings and 350 drawings. The collection was remarkable both for its size and for its outstanding quality. This is how numerous important masterpieces, among them works by Jan van Eyck, Francesco Laurana, Giorgione, Titian, Antico, Raphael and Rubens entered the Habsburg collections. But Leopold Wilhelm also patronized contemporary baroque painters and sculptors. He commissioned works from over 60 artists, among them celebrated Flemish masters like David Teniers the younger, Jan Davidz de Heem or Jérôme II Duquesnoy.

TRADITION AND REPRESENTATION

In his patronage and connoisseurship Leopold Wilhelm followed in the footsteps of a long line of Habsburg rulers of the Low Countries. The first was Margaret of Austria (1840-1530), the daughter of Emperor Maximilian I, who as Governor of the Netherlands called many artists to her court at Malines. Her nephew, Emperor Charles V, grew up at her court; his vast collection forms the foundation of the holdings of the Prado in Madrid. During her tenure as Governor, Charles’ sister Mary of Hungary assembled a collection in her palace in Brussels before following her brother to Spain – with her artworks – after his abdication. During his time in Brussels Archduke, later Emperor Matthew got so deep into debt that his creditors prevented him from leaving after his tenure as Governor had ended. Only after some hesitation did his brother Emperor Rudolf II, another passionate collector, decide to pay his debts and set him free. The joint Governors Archduke Albrecht and Infanta Isabella also supported the arts and installed a gallery at their palace in Brussels. After their death, however, their collection was dispersed and all that was left for Leopold Wilhelm to admire were the remaining paintings by Rubens.

Like other contemporary collections, Leopold Wilhelm’s also functioned as a display of his status and authority. These extensive holdings documented their owner’s learning, his visual and intellectual cosmos, and reflected how he saw himself. His court painter David Teniers the younger celebrated the archducal picture collection in numerous gallery paintings. This is why Leopold Wilhelm commissioned different painted versions of the gallery and dispatched them to many of the major courts in Europe. The version sent to Vienna forms the focus of this exhibition.

THE EXHIBITION

The exhibition “A Passion for Art” offers an overview of the impressive breath of the Archduke’s connoisseurship and artistic interests that not only focused on paintings. It discusses the installation and presentation of collections and documents how Leopold Wilhelm cleverly publicized his collection’s renown by commissioning gallery paintings and the first-ever printed museum catalogue, the Theatrum Pictorium. Leopold Wilhelm’s collection continues to form a seminal part of the celebrated holdings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna. In addition to the show installed in the Special Exhibition Gallery visitors are invited to go on a “treasure hunt” in the Picture Gallery and the Kunstkammer: a map and signs on the labels of artworks identify works once in the magnificent collection assembled by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. The exhibition is the sixth in our INTERMEZZO series, in which the Kunsthistorisches Museum showcases a selection of artworks from its own holdings in a single gallery, creating a stimulating dialogue. This exhibition is curated by a team of in-house curators from the participating collections. Team of curators: Anna Fabiankowitsch (Coin Collection), Gerlinde Gruber (Picture Gallery) Rotraut Krall (Education dept.), Stefan Krause (Collection of Arms and Armour), Manuela Laubenberger (Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities), Konrad Schlegel (Kunstkammer), Heinz Winter (Coin Collection), Karin Zeleny (Editing dept.) and Renate Schreiber (historian).

PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS

These images may be used free of charge when writing about the exhibition; to download them go to press.khm.at.

David Teniers the younger Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his gallery in Brussels c. 1650 canvas, 124 cm x 165 cm Picture Gallery © KHM

David Teniers the younger Archduke Leopold Wilhelm (1614-1662) in the background the Siege of Gravelingen c. 1652 canvas, 203,5 x 136 cm Picture Gallery © KHM

Carlo Saraceni Judith with the Head of Holofernes c. 1610/15 canvas, 90 x 79 Picture Gallery © KHM

Paolo Caliari, called Veronese Christ Raising the Son of the Widow of Naim c. 1565/1570 canvas, 102 x 136 cm Picture Gallery © KHM

Tiziano Vecellio, gen. Tizian Cherry Madonna (on the left St. Joseph, on the right the Infant St. John the Baptist and St. Zachary) c. 1516/18 transferred from canvas onto panel, 81 x 99,5 cm Picture Gallery © KHM

Peter Paul Rubens The Lamentation dated 1614 oak panel, 40,5 x 52,5 cm Picture Gallery © KHM

Emperor Lucius Verus c. AD 160 marble h. (total) 100 cm Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities © KHM

Nicolaus van Hoy/Frans van de Steen The Gallery at Stallburg Palace from the Theatrum Pictorum of David Teniers the younger 1660 Library © KHM

Leonhard Kern Szene from the Thirty Years’ War 1656(?)/59 Stone, alabaster h. 34,3 / w. 16,5 / d. 30 cm Kunstkammer © KHM

Giusto Le Court Invidia (Fury); bust before 1662 stone, marble h. 58,5 cm Kunstkammer © KHM

Attributed to Francesco Fanelli Venus or Amphitrite 2nd quarter of the 17th century Bronze h. 49,2 / w. 19 / d. 19 cm Kunstkammer © KHM

Pier Jacopo Alari-Bonacolsi, called Antico Bacchus; bust um 1520/1525 Bronze, partly gilded h. 59 / w. 43 / d. 27 cm Kunstkammer © KHM

Ink Well in the Shape of a Toad Statuette early 16th century h. 8, 5 / l. 14,5 / w. 13 cm Kunstkammer © KHM

INFORMATION AND EXHIBITION PROGRAMME

TALK

Fri, Sept. 12., 4 p.m. (lecture room): Irene Schaudies (art historian, Netherlands) Celebrating a Habsburg Epiphany Power, Politics & Partying in Jordaens' The King Drinks

GUIDED TOURS

Would you like to book a guided tour? Please contact: +43 1 525 24 - 5202 kunstvermittlung@khm.at

EXHIBITION CATALOGUE

Sabine Haag (Ed.) SAMMELLUST Die Galerie Erzherzog Leopold Wilhelms 112 pages, in German ISBN 978-3-99020-071-1 € 14,95

OPENING HOURS AND ENTRANCE FEES

June, July and August open daily! Thursdays, 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. In September: Tuesdays - Sundays, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Thursdays, 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Annual Ticket € 34* Adults € 14 Vienna Card € 13 Concessions € 11 Children under 19 free Group ticket (p.p.) € 10 Audio Guide (german / english) € 4 * Annual Ticket Summer Special Buy an Annual Ticket between June 17 and August 31, 2014 and it will be valid for 14 instead of only 12 months!

PRESS OFFICE

Nina Auinger-Sutterlüty, MAS Head of Communication and Public Relations Kunsthistorisches Museum mit ÖTM und MVK Burgring 5, 1010 Vienna T +43 1 525 24 - 4021 info.pr@khm.at www.khm.at