Nicholas II Esterházy. Biography of a prince and collector

Prince Nicholas II greatly impressed his contemporaries. His appearances were always incredibly splendid. In his famous parade uniform, believed to have been embroidered with 10,000 pearls, and his aigrette with 4,000 cut diamonds, he topped the bill of Europe`s crowned heads. His presentation of art und the ostentatious feasts at his princely court were simply unbeatable. With his art collections Nicholas II passed into history as Il Magnifico (the Magnificent). The prince, an obsessive collector, led a life of legendary glamour which was renowned throughout Europe. Born in the Esterhzy fairy kingdom, as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe described it, he outstripped his contemporaries in almost every field of the visual and performing arts. In his heyday around 1800 Nicholas II shaped the world around him like a king. His ambitious project to create a culture landscape at his main residence, Eisenstadt near Vienna, was unique in the history of architecture and gardens in Austria and Germany. The Esterhzy court of muses, with its theatre, opera and concerts, was famous - from its court composers Haydn and Hummel to spectacular commissions for Beethoven and Cherubini. Around 1800 the princely collections were the fastest growing in Europe and embraced all fields of art - from Leonardo drawings to El Greco paintings, from Canova sculptures to scores, from rare minerals to the largest collection of plants in Europe.His lifestyle and projects were so extravagant that Nicholas II was tipped to become King of Hungary with Napoleon`s favour. However, the prince planned to achieve "only" sovereign power in the German lands - without success. His scandal-ridden affairs and romances were the talk of Vienna. Nicholas II was also restless and pushy with his sovereign Francis II until enough was enough: he fell out with his Emperor and with Chancellor Metternich. At the end of his ascent in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars, he withdrew to a life of privacy under the southern sun. When he died, Nicholas II was heavily indebted, but his royal reputation lived on. When his spectacular jewels, including the aigrette of his uniform, lauded as the world`s largest piece of diamond jewellery, were sold at auction in 1865, the international jewellery market collapsed. Charles Lewis Tiffany bought most of the stones and with them established his famous business in New York. The origin of the jewellery ennobles the stones to this day, for they are still surrounded by myth, like their former owner Prince Nicholas II Esterhzy. The art and science collections of Prince Nicholas II still form the bases of Hungary`s national collections in Budapest. His gardens and palaces around Vienna attract visitors from all over the world. Thus, Il Magnifico makes the Esterhzy`s fairy kingdom shine brightly to this day. The biography of the most important offspring of the Esterhzy family, accepted as doctoral thesis (magna cum laude) at the University of Vienna, Institute of Art History, examines the life of Prince Nicholas II Esterhzy as a person, as a member of the high-ranking aristocracy and as one of the greatest collectors and patrons of the arts of his day. For the first time, the book provides a detailed account of his lifetime achievements in all areas of the visual and performing arts and explains them psychologically and in the context of the history of ideas. The book also shows the role of art as a medium and strategy with which the aristocracy could assert itself socially at a time of social and political change all over Europe, in the period between the French Revolution and the period before the 1848 Revolution. During the change in society from one of estates to one of classes, the aristocracy lost its supremacy, but it struggled "to stay on top" with splendid collections. What is special about this book? A study of the social history of the rarely examined decline of the aristocracy in Austria after 1789 First complete biography of one of Europe`s greatest collectors All the material available in more than 30 archives, libraries, collections in 7 countries was screened Biography of a "Hungarian Viennese" prince with connections all over Europe (Paris, London, Naples) Art history highlights (Canova, Thorvaldsen, El Greco, Leonardo, Rembrandt, Goya) The history of the collection as the personality profile of a manic collector Love affairs and scandals of a prince who was a go-getter in everything he did