Leseprobe

445 As well as art changing hands through looting during the Thirty Years’War, the giving of gifts played a prominent role in the political arena—and such gifts often consisted of works of outstanding artistry and remarkable provenance. In diplomacy, gifts have always denoted relationships and dependencies, signalling loyalties and expressing the hope of support or of clemency; they also involved the expectation of reciprocal gifts or symbolic assurances of favour—in short, when expressing mutual esteem, sealing alliances, or con- cluding treaties, gifts were indispensable.1 The giving of gifts for purely selfless reasons or on a completely voluntary basis would have been highly unusual in the seventeenth century. The complex situation surrounding an important gift of a work of art in the midst of the war can be exemplified by an exceptionally well-documented instance: namely, the acqui- sition by Maximilian I of Bavaria of Albrecht Dürer’s Four Apostles (fig. 1) in 1627.2 From their inception, these major works by the Nuremberg master had been intended as a significant gift, being dedicated “as a remembrance” by the painter himself to the civic leadership of his native city in 1526. The latter reciprocated with a gift of 112 Rhenish florins for him, his wife and his servant.When, in about 1600, Emperor Rudolf II sought to purchase the panels, the powerful city could afford to reject the offer, referring to Dürer’s express dona- tion of the paintings to the council. In 1627, however, the situation was different: as a result of the war, Nuremberg was in an extremely difficult situation, both economically and politically, weakened by the billeting of soldiers and by various troops and entire armies marching through. The council therefore turned to the Elector of Bavaria, asking him for support and for relief from the burden of war. He was given gifts of money and offered works of art, which were often used in Nuremberg as a reliable means of currying favour. Dürer’s Four Apostles were not initially among the items on offer, but Maximilian I, who was keen to acquire works by Dürer, sensed the unique opportunity that had emerged and did not rest until, after six months of negotia- tions, extensive correspondence and legal opinions, he was able to incorporate the panels into his Kammergalerie (Chamber Gallery) in Munich. The council had copies of the panels specially made and sent these along with the orig- inals in the hope that the Elector would choose them, instead of the originals, owing to their better condition; however, the copies were sent back. The new owner had the Protestant inscriptions on Dürer’s panels sawn off. As a reciprocal gift, Art and Diplomacy. The role of gifts in the Thirty Years’War MARIUS WINZELER FIG. 1 Albrecht Dürer, Four Apostles , Nuremberg, 1526, oil on limewood, left panel: St John and St Peter , h. 215.5 cm, w. 76 cm, right panel: St Paul and St Mark , h. 214.5 cm, w. 76 cm, given by the Nuremberg city council as a gift to Maximilian I of Bavaria in 1627, Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek, inv. no. 540, 545