Hans von Aachen, court artist to the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, created a series of small painting called the Allegories on the Long Turkish War. Von Aachen made the Allegories between 1604 and 1606 and Rudolf II kept them bound in a red book in his Kunstkammer. This series selects events and battles from the Long War against the Ottoman Empire, 1593-1606, to create a flattering propagandistic image of the emperor in order to strengthen his support. Rudolf’s brother, Archduke Matthias of Austria, began plotting against the emperor beginning in 1600. By 1606 he was actively usurping Rudolf’s political power. I examine von Aachen’s visual description of imperial power, the alternate history the Allegories present, and the ways they engage with Neo-Platonic theories to convey validity to viewers. In my thesis, I outline the events of the Long War in order to compare them to von Aachen’s portrayals and to understand how he restructures chronological history to convey his message about Rudolf’s rulership. I briefly analyze each painting but I focus primarily on the eighth scene, the Conquest of Székesfehérvár. Sultan Mehmed III sits opposite Rudolf II in dignified defeat in this painting. I investigate the visual treatment of the sultan through the historical interactions between the Ottoman and Holy Roman Empires and propose the political function served by depicting him as a noble enemy. I finally discuss the way von Aachen uses symbols and allegory to convey a potent message and convince the viewer of its validity. Ultimately, these works should be seen as political propaganda used to combat Rudolf’s brother Archduke Matthias’ political takeover and not as Rudolf’s fantastical escapism from his losing battle against his brother. / text

Bernstein, in seiner natürlichen Form und auch kunstvoll bearbeitet, gehörte zu den raren und wundersamen Dingen, mit denen Naturgelehrte und Fürsten ihre Mineraliensammlungen, Raritäten-, Kunst- und Wunderkammern und Naturalienkabinetten gerne bestückten. Geschenke aus diesem seltenen Stein waren chwillkommen. Besonders geschätzt wurden Zufallsbilder und Bernsteine mit pflanzlichen und tierischen Einschlüssen (Bernsteininklusen). Einschlüsse von größeren Tieren, wie Fröschen, Eidechsen und Fischen, wurden künstlich hergestellt. Die Echtheit dieser Inklusen wurde zunächst jedoch nicht angezweifelt. Der Platz des Bernsteins in diesen frühen musealen Einrichtungen war, wie der jedes anderen Sammlungsgegenstandes, nicht fest und endgültig. Er war eng an die Entwicklung des Sammlerwesens geknüpft und abhängig vom Wissen ihrer Betreiber über das Universum im Allgemeinen und über den Bernstein im Besonderen. Wobei die persönliche Wertschätzung, die dem Bernstein entgegengebracht wurde, eine wichtige Rolle spielte. Die Sammlungen bildeten und bilden bis heute die Grundlage für die wissenschaftliche Erforschung des Bernsteins und darüber hinaus für die Erforschung der Erdgeschichte. / Carefully worked pieces of naturally occurring amber were seen as rare and wondrous objects by scientists and rulers who avidly collected them to add to their mineral or art collections or their curiosity and specimen cabinets. Gifts of this rare stone were very well received. Amber inclusions containing plants and animals were particularly sought after. Amber pieces containing larger creatures such as frogs, lizards and fish were produced artificially and their authenticity was not, at least initially, doubted. However the place of Amber in these early museum-like settings, was not, as was the case for all other objects in these collections, definitively guaranteed. Its position was closely linked to the development of collectors and dependent on its owner’s knowledge both more generally about the world and about amber in particular; the individual view that collectors took about the worth of amber therefore played an important role. These collections provided and still provide the basis for scholarly research of amber and beyond that of geology.