The Harrach Gallery – New Catalogue
Apart from the collections of the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein, which only returned to Vienna a few years ago, the Harrach Gallery is the only one of the formerly many noble collections in Vienna that still survives intact. It is distinguished by the high artistic quality of its holdings and at the same time bears the very personal signature of its owners. Substantial parts of the collection were acquired by Ferdinand Bonaventura Harrach (1636–1706) as imperial ambassador in Madrid and Rome, Alois Thomas Raimund Harrach (1669–1742) as viceroy of Naples, and Ernst Guido Harrach (1732–1783) via an agent in Rome, Abbate Giuseppe Dionigio Crivelli. The goal of the project is to compile a new scholarly catalogue of the collection and, in this context, to systematically evaluate the wide-ranging historical documentation preserved in the family archives (inventories, correspondence, lists of purchases), in order to render the Gallery also visible as a privileged instrument through which the Harrachs proclaimed their status and prestige.
Project members: Dr. Matthias Bodenstein, HR Ao. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Prohaska, HR Dr. Karl Schütz, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Sebastian Schütze
