Boxes, Frames and Eggs: Portrait Miniatures as ‘Portable Dynasties’ within European Court Culture (original) (raw)
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In: Bozena Popiołek, Urszula Kicinska, Anna PenkałaJastrzebska (eds.). MONARCHS' COURT – PRIVATE COURT. The Evolution of the Court Structure from the Middle Ages to the End of the 18th Century, pp. 237-258, 2024
The article illustrates an exemplary aspect of court structure and patronage by analyzing small but significant objects of courtly material culture that imbricated complex social, dynastic, and political relations: portrait miniatures and snuff boxes. The 18th century witnessed a vogue for both portrait miniatures and snuff boxes, which were often manufactured together. These were among the most popular objects and collectibles within European court culture and played an essential role in courtly gift- giving as tokens of affliation and political propaganda, given among monarchs and also bestowed by royals to members of their household, deserving subjects, and foreign diplomats. Sumptuously framed or decorated with valuable gemstones, these items were exquisite and precious artifacts made of the finest materials and often reflected a special bond between the giver and recipient. They could serve as visible signs of family ties or public alliances, just as they could symbolize special affections, contain secret messages, or even feature erotic innuendo. They were shown and perceived as items of economic, material, and symbolic value, but could also function as hidden references or dynastic emblems. Often, they were products of local craftsmanship made by goldsmiths, jewelers, and gem cutters, whose trades were sponsored by royal permission; they thus promoted the local industry and economy. The author discusses the cultural and economic importance of these objects for court culture by selecting outstanding examples from various European courts and analyzing their materiality, iconography, and agency. It demonstrates the importance of these objects in internal and external court (inter-)relations and dependencies.
Privacy at Court? A Reassessment of the Public/Private Divide within European Courts (1400-1800). International Conference, organised by the Centre for Privacy Studies at the University of Copenhagen and the Society of Court Studies, Copenhagen, 10–12 December 2020 There is hardly an object within courtly material culture that connotes both privacy and publicity as much as the portrait miniature. As essential parts of early modern courtly representation and material culture, miniatures could symbolise all kinds of social, dynastic, and political affiliations. They were used as lovers’ tokens, diplomatic gifts, as commemorative souvenirs of highly emotional events such as births, marriages, and deaths, as substitutes for absent or deceased persons as well as proxy in marriage negotiations and betrothal ceremonies. They could serve as visible signs of family ties or public alliances, just as they could symbolise special affections, contain secret messages or erotic innuendo. Set in sumptuous jewellery, as pendants, brooches, or bracelets, they were worn as symbols of luxury and status as well as badges of sentiment, loyalty, or propaganda. As objects of virtue, like souvenirs or snuffboxes, they were shown and perceived as items of economic, material, and symbolic value but could also operate as hidden clues or dynastic emblems. Furthermore, by integration – as a picture in a picture – into large-scale portraits they became interactive ‘telling’ objects, publicly conveying personal or political information. The paper will discuss this dichotomy of privacy and publicity from a gendered perspective by analysing the agency of these items, i.e. the various contexts and modes of display in which portrait miniatures were used by eighteenth-century European princesses and queens as sitters, recipients or collectors. It is to be shown to what extent the ‘private’ and ‘public’ spheres could interpenetrate and influence each other, not being clearly separable.
Courtly Experiences in the Premodern World, c. 1200-1800: Cultural, Material and Sensory Experiences in the World of the Court
There is hardly an object of premodern European courtly material culture that connotes materiality and sensory perception as well as publicity and privacy as much as the portrait miniature. Sumptously framed or inserted in objects of virtue, miniatures played a crucial role in ceremonial contexts as well as in diplomatic or domestic gift-giving as tokens of political propaganda, affiliation, and appreciation. Likewise, they were used as commemorative souvenirs of highly emotional events such as births, marriages, and deaths, respectively as substitutes for absent or deceased persons. Moreover, as lovers’ tokens, they could symbolise deep affections, contain secret messages or even feature erotic innuendo. The different purposes defined the interaction between doner and recipient, they determined the bond between recipient and object and influenced its subsequent handling, i.e. its visibility in the context of courtly encounters, be it showcased as an eye-catching valuable or hidden and secretly regarded and touched as a sentimental treasure. The paper will discuss these multifaceted material, sensorial and communicative aspects of miniatures and their significance for internal and external court encounters by using selected examples from various European courts and analysing their agency. In this context, written sources such as diaries and travelogues will also be considered.
Etudes Epistémè, 2019
Miniatures were a popular medium of early modern material court culture and representation, symbolising social, dynastic or political affiliation while, at the same time, evoking a special bond between wearer and object. They were used as diplomatic gifts, as commemorative tokens of highly emotional events such as births, marriages and deaths, as substitutes for absent or deceased persons as well as proxy in marriage negotiations and betrothal ceremonies. By integrating these small objects – as a picture in a picture – into large-scale portraits, they were directly contextualised with the sitter, publicly conveying personal or political messages, thus becoming interactive telling objects. Set in sumptuous jewellery, as pendants, brooches or bracelets, they were worn as symbols of luxury and status as well as badges of sentiment, loyalty or propaganda. As objects of virtue, like souvenirs or snuffboxes, they were shown and perceived as items of economic, material and symbolic value but could also operate as hidden clues or dynastic emblems. In addition, the allusion to their origins as gifts or heirlooms, i.e. to the process of giving and receiving, as well as the open display of wearing, handling or regarding not only constituted a relation between sitter and object but also implemented a narrative structure into the depiction. This essay would like to open the discourse on this specific interactive potential of miniatures by analysing different modes of display and context based on selected eighteenth-century female European court portraits.
Gift-Giving and Communication Networks. 13th Kings & Queens Conference 2024. Paris/château de Châteaudun, France, 27-29 May 2024 In early modern Europe portrait miniatures played an essential role in courtly gift-giving by connoting both “public” and “private” purposes. They were given away among monarchs themselves, bestowed by these to members of their household, to deserving subjects or foreign diplomats. They would serve as visible signs of family ties or alliances, just as they were used as lovers’ tokens, containing secret messages or erotic innuendo. They served as commemorative souvenirs of highly emotional events such as births, marriages, and deaths, as substitutes for absent or deceased persons as well as proxy in marriage negotiations and betrothal ceremonies. Set in sumptuous jewellery they were worn as symbols of luxury and status as well as badges of sentiment, loyalty, or propaganda. As objects of virtue, like souvenirs or snuffboxes, they were shown and perceived as items of economic, material, and symbolic value but could also operate as hidden clues or dynastic emblems. As tokens of favour or collectables they could be openly displayed or discreetly hidden. But always, the process of gift-giving indicated a special bond between giver and recipient, while at the same time the material value of the gift reflected the appreciation of the recipient on the part of the giver. This paper will discuss the importance of these small items for courtly gift-giving from a gendered perspective by analysing the different modes of female agency of these items within early modern European courts. It is to be shown to what extent they could work as communication tools to strengthen familial as well as political bonding.
RIHA Journal
Apart from a deep respect for the achievements of the Habsburgs, Emperor Maximilian I transmitted to his heirs a practical attitude towards their art collections. Pearls and precious stones were extracted from set pieces to produce new ones; old-fashioned jewellery or silver objects were melted down; and tapestries, paintings and sculptures were publicly sold to pay off debts. By studying how some of these goods were reused, recycled, and recirculated among the Habsburg family members, I will explain how crown patrimony changed owners and kingdoms, and how the cult of their dynasty, actively promoted by Charles V, heightened the notion of a collective consciousness which served as a topos for aristocratic collecting in the Renaissance.
Portable Dynasties: Imperial Gift-Giving at the Court of Vienna in the Eighteenth Century
The Court Historian, 2009
This essay explores the varied meanings attached to imperial diplomatic gifts in eighteenth-century Habsburg court culture, particularly during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa. It examines the role of gifts in solidifying political allegiances and the different ways that social relationships were implied through giving different objects, ranging from a medieval hunting horn to furniture and snuff-boxes. The essay also discusses the ceremonial process of gift-giving in Vienna and the manner in which court protocol affected a gift's meanings. The influence of Habsburg dynastic and familial ideology on gift culture receives special emphasis in an extended discussion of one particularly impressive portrait-encrusted snuff-box.