Leseprobe

Works of Art. Their Role. Their Itineraries 446 Maximilian I sent nine gold portrait medals to Nuremberg and assured the city of his protection and clemency. That Nuremberg was apparently satisfied with the effect of this more or less forced gift is evident from the fact that the council continued to try to win the Elector’s favour through further gifts of works of art; in 1630, for example, they pre- sented him with bronze reliefs by Giambologna, paintings by Correggio,Titian and Dürer, as well as the entire art col- lection of Willibald Imhoff.3 Gifts as part of diplomatic ceremonial When Julius Bernhard von Rohr, in his Ceremoniel-Wissen­ schaft der großen Herren , published in 1733, described the role of exchanging gifts in eighteenth-century diplomacy, he based his statements on older reports, as exemplified by the following episode: “It was previously customary among the high lords that on such occasions [meetings between princes] they exchanged hats for their amusement. When, on 26 March 1618, Prince Johann Georg I of Anhalt had a very cordial meeting with the Elector of Saxony, Johann Georg I, at the so-called Red House in Anhalt, they had such pleasure in each other’s company that they exchanged hats. Prince Johann Georg of Anhalt still remembered this on the day before he died, and he took the exchanged hat with him into his grave.”4 Rohr describes how, especially “before departing from the court, which had attended on them with every courtesy”, the “high lords” would customarily present gifts.5 Concerning the envoys, he noted: “At some courts, among some peoples, and on some occasions, it is necessary to demonstrate particular magnificence and generosity. […] For example, he [the envoy] must make a big impression, admit spectators at banquets, spend large amounts of money, and present lavish gifts.” “Some emissaries bring lavish presents from their princely highnesses, valuable horses, fashionable accessories, delicate wines etc. They are themselves given gifts from some courts if through their good conduct they have helped to bring about a state of affairs that benefits and brings glory both to the court from which they have been sent and to that which they have been sent to.”6 Further- more, Rohr specifically mentions that “after concluding peace, the powers [customarily send] formal embassies along with gifts, and these are presented not only to the rulers themselves but also to their highest ministers”.7 The giving of gifts as part of diplomatic ceremonial, at recep- tions, and in the course of negotiations, has been docu- mented since antiquity. They played a prominent role in court etiquette, mostly involving perishable goods and ani- mals, as Rohr also points out: horses, wine, robes and money. This is confirmed by the archive documents listing gifts given to the Electors of Saxony between 1580 and 1695; these also include dogs, falcons and swans, guenons, camels, lions and tigers, as well as salmon, pheasants and melons. Only occasionally were such items as weapons, jewellery, mechanical instruments and an amber bowl among the gifts recorded—items that were to last longer and have a more durable effect.8 Indeed, the said amber bowl has been preserved to this day in Dresden’s Grünes Gewölbe. This sumptuous display vessel in the form of a nautilus shell, FIG. 2 Jacob Heise, Ornate vessel in the form of a Nautilus shell, Königsberg, 1659, amber, ivory, silver, gilt, h. 34.5 cm, base w. 14.5 cm, d. 12 cm, given by Elector FriedrichWilhelm of Brandenburg as a gift to Johann Georg II of Saxony in 1662, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Grünes Gewölbe, inv. no. IV 340