Art collector and agent: Luigi Girolamo Malabaila di Canale

Luigi Girolamo Malabaila Conte di Canale (17041773) was a Sabaudian diplomat in the service of Carlo Emanuele III of Savoy. He spent nearly forty years in Vienna, representing the interests of the Duke of Savoy. His aristocratic provenance and his fine education together with his role as ambassador and his broad interests in art and literature make him a unique example of the cultural transfer between Turin and Vienna as well as a patron of the arts and a collector. His collection, which was dispersed after his death, had included more than 100 paintings not only by old masters but also by coeval artists, indicating Malabailas contact with a lively international network of artists, agents and connoisseurs. He was a close friend of the poet Metastasio and they both actively participated in the cultural life of the city and were part of a literary circle that discussed not only new books and publications but also arts, science, philosophy, religion and politics. On the subject of these readings and discussions, Malabaila composed the Comptes de mes reflexions et de lectures rendus à moi même, which rank among the most interesting documents for an understanding of Malabaila as a man, an ambassador as well as a patron and a collector. On the basis of archival records and sources, the sales catalogue of the painting collection and inventories, this research project will reconstruct both the collection and the patronage of the Sabaudian ambassador and delineate a complex, rounded portrait of a patron in the context of other collectors and diplomats of the age. Departing from the case study of Malabaila, the project will focus on the wider cultural context, artistic exchanges and collecting cultures in Vienna in the 18th century. Within the framework of studies on art and diplomacy, the project will also focus on the cultural transfer between Italy and Austria, or rather between the Duchy of Savoy and the Holy Roman Empire.