The Italian Drawings of the Former "Salzburger Malerakademie"

The research project deals with c. 800 Italian drawings from the early 17th to the late 18th century that belong to the Special Collections of the University Library, Salzburg. Despite their mostly high quality, and although they were first catalogued already in the 1930s by the former director of the University Library Ernst v. Frisch, research has given them little attention. The drawings to be discussed in the planned project form a cohesive group, because all of them were compiled in folios which carried the label "Malerakademie" (i.e. literally: Academy of Painting). Academies always possessed their own collections of prints and drawings, since instruction was primarily based on imitation. The "Malerakademie" at Salzburg was founded in 1784 by Prince Archbishop Hieronymus von Colloredo (1732-1812), and obviously he bought (or let buy) the drawings in large lots; the folios also bore his arms. One of our research questions is therefore the exact provenance of the drawings. Colloredo has been described as hostile towards art; however, his position needs to be re-evaluated considering his role as founder of the academy. This leads to the research question how Colloredo`s attitude towards art might be reflected in the composition of the collection of drawings. Therefore, it is also is necessary to reassess the attributions and iconographic subjects. Parts of the collection have been digitalised. (http://www.ubs.sbg.ac.at/sosa/graphiken/handzeichnungen.htm). The information there is based more or less on Frisch and is - after almost 80 years - no longer at the current state of research. It was only around 1930 that Frisch disassembled the folios as part of conservation-restoration efforts. The project also aims to reconstruct the original folios and to find out which particular functions the drawings fulfilled in the academic activities. Another goal is to identify specific features which are characteristic of a drawing`s function and to look at how these functions have changed over time, using the "Salzburger Malerakademie" as an example. The approach of the research on the drawings in question is, on the one hand, historical (on the basis of provable facts) and, on the other hand, functional. The results of the research will first be published online (updating the current database), in articles, and also in the form of a book. The project will be a continuation of a current research project, focusing mainly on the early works of the collection, e.g. Veronese, Palma il Giovane, J. Bassano-followers (2010-12; administered by R. Prochno und A. Gottdang; research collaborator: U. Sölter). This project will be concluded by a book and an exhibition at the "Residenzgalerie Salzburg" (November 2012).