Leseprobe

Protagonists & their Artistic Representation 278 FIG. 5 Saddle with gilt stirrups, gold-embroidered caparison, headstall decorated with rubies and turquoises, bequeathed by Bethlen Gábor as a gift to his brother-in-law Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1629, Constantinople, leather, silk and gold threads, silver, precious stones, h. 58 cm, w. 38.5 cm, l. 55 cm, Stockholm, Livrustkammaren, inv. no. 9043 (3841:a) The construction of memory In connection with the legitimation of royal power through artistic products, mention should also be made of Gustavus Adolphus’s ambition to promote a memory culture associ- ated with him personally. In 1628, the King ordered that two of the outfits he had worn the previous year, during the cam- paign in Prussia, should be preserved. They came from two different combat operations, which he had survived badly wounded.When these garments were brought into the Royal Wardrobe, they were damaged and visibly stained with the King’s blood. On 18 March 1628 they were then handed over to the Royal Armoury.9 In 1633, a year after the King’s death, the Swedish Council of the Realm ( Riksrådet ) recorded in the minutes of its meeting on 13 November: “As for the clothes in which His blessed Majesty was shot in Prussia, they are to be kept here in the Armoury for his per- petual commemoration, as commanded by His blessed Maj- esty.”10 It is clear from the way this is formulated that the garments were to be kept for posterity by order of the King, so as to uphold his memory. The placing of these garments in the Royal Armoury not only created the basis for the social construction of his memory, but also turned this col- lection of weaponry into an institution for the memorialisa- tion of the Swedish royal family.The collecting of historical artefacts can certainly be seen as a strategy for shaping the royal image, which has continued ever since. After the Council of the Realm had recorded the King’s command in its minutes, memorabilia were thence- forth preserved accordingly. After the King’s death at the