Art Transfer between the Courts in Vienna and Naples. Maria Carolina of Austria (1752-1814), Queen of Naples and Sicily, as Art Patron and Collector
The excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum turned Naples into one of the cultural centers of Europe and consequently a firm destination for travelers taking the Grand Tour. Antique archaeological finds, together with the products of newly founded manufactories, such as those for porcelain, enabled Maria Carolina and Ferdinand IV to pursue a deliberate and targeted policy of gift-giving. This project will address the question of which artworks were sent to Vienna, what intentions – where applicable – lay behind them, and what importance they held in the collections they entered. On the basis of archival research, and taking into account previously neglected stakeholders, it will shed fresh light on the cases of selected artworks within this context. It will thereby focus in particular upon the queen as an art patron who was keen to foster good relations with Vienna and who played a key role in the transfer of art between the two cities.
