Remarks on the Collections of Rudolf II: The Kunstkammer as a Form of Representatio

Abstract

A series of recent discoveries calls for the reinterpretation of the fabled and long misunderstood collections of the Emperor Rudolf II of Habsburg (reigned 1576–1612). Since Julius Von Schlosser's treatment of the late Renaissance Kunst- und Wunderkammer, Rudolf's collections have until recently been regarded as a kind of circus sideshow lacking any organizing principle or orderly display. Unicorn horns and magic stones are said to have been heaped up alongside great paintings by Dürer and Brueghel throughout the rooms of the imperial castle in Prague. The Emperor is supposed to have grown increasingly mad as he spent his days contemplating his strange, secret treasure instead of tending to affairs of state.1

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