Splendid Habsburg art trove of 600 years lands in Seoul

"Infanta Margarita Teresa in a White Dress" (1656) by Diego Velazquez / Courtesy of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

Exhibition offers survey of art collection amassed by powerful European dynasty

By Park Han-sol

Opulent European arms and armor, works of decorative art, tapestries and celebrated Old Master paintings ― all hailing from the former imperial and royal court of Vienna ― have landed at the National Museum of Korea (NMK) for their first-ever Seoul outing.

Nearly 100 treasures on view were all amassed by and once belonged to the House of Habsburg, one of Europe's longest-lived dynasties that acquired political prominence for over six centuries as Holy Roman Emperors, monarchs and archdukes.

From Rudolf I's election as Holy Roman Emperor in 1273 until the dynasty's collapse in 1918 in the aftermath of World War I, the Habsburgs' territorial domain stretched from Austria to Spain, the Netherlands, France and parts of Italy, among others, earning at one point the nickname "the empire on which the sun never sets."

Perhaps one trait of the royal family that is best-known today besides their immense influence once wielded across the region is the so-called "Habsburg jaw," a protruding lower jaw that most likely resulted from generations of inbreeding in a bid to consolidate power.

But rather than focusing on the monarchy's entangled political history, the exhibit titled "Six Centuries of Beauty in the Habsburg Empire," held in partnership with the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, introduces the family specifically as avid collectors and patrons of the arts.

A suit of armor called "Eagle Garniture" (1547), made for Archduke Ferdinand II by Jorg Seusenhofer / Courtesy of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

"Together, the collections reveal the pomp and splendor, the regalia and rituals, the prestige and spectacle associated with the Habsburg rulers," Sabine Haag, director general of the Austrian museum, said during the exhibition opening, Oct. 25.

The wide-ranging survey of the Habsburg collection opens with a set of elegant 15th- and 16th-century suits of armor belonging to Maximilian I (1459-1519), who paved the way for the dynasty to rise to power through policies of war and strategic marriage, and his great-grandson, Archduke Ferdinand II (1529-95).

In Renaissance Europe, armor was far more than a protective suit for the wearer on the battlefield, serving as an important indicator of social standing. Specialized metal clothing would be produced for ceremonial purposes and festivities, especially jousting tournaments, which offered a spectacle of chivalric sport.

Fashion trends also influenced the shape of metal suits ― as seen in a suit of fluted iron armor, whose vertical ridges on the surface were created to imitate the pleated design in clothing that was popular at the time. It was later acquired by Archduke Ferdinand II, who was known for his passion for collecting a vast body of arms and armor, exotic curiosities and paintings. He even built the country's oldest "museum" inside his Ambras Castle in Tyrol of Western Austria dedicated to housing his treasures.

A late 16th-century ornamented coconut jug, left, and a cruciform sundial (1619) / Courtesy of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

Another ardent patron of the arts in the House of Habsburg was Ferdinand's nephew, Emperor Rudolf II (1552-1612). While branded as an incompetent ruler who launched the fruitless Long Turkish War with the Ottoman Empire for 13 years at the turn of the 17th century, he nevertheless left a significant cultural legacy with his connoisseurship that materialized in the form of "Kunstkammer," or cabinet of curiosities.

His unrivaled collection, sometimes referred to as the "theater of the world," ranged from signature Northern Mannerist paintings to rare craftworks, fossils, minerals, relics and scientific instruments. It was what eventually formed the foundation of the crafts gallery of the present-day Kunsthistorisches Museum.

Both Ferdinand's and Rudolf's impressive Kunstkammers have been brought to life at the exhibition, filled with: a delicate gold-filigree basket made from India, a shell-shaped nephrite bowl with a gilt-silver figurine of Neptune on top, an intricate cruciform sundial that could tell time in three different ways, and a goblet made of coconut ― a fruit that was mistakenly thought to be growing in the depths of the ocean by European explorers at the time.

Today, there are only six surviving coconut ornaments around the world, two of which have been brought to Seoul for the show.

Peter Paul Rubens' "Philemon and Baucis Giving Hospitality to Jupiter and Mercury" (1620-25) / Courtesy of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

But if one were to pick the stars of "Six Centuries of Beauty," they would have to be the paintings themselves etched with the names of Old Masters, including Diego Velazquez, Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck.

Velazquez's "Infanta Margarita Teresa in a White Dress" features the iconic five-year-old princess of the Spanish Habsburg family in a very similar attire to that which she is seen donning in the artist's canonical masterpiece, "Las Meninas."

Baroque virtuoso Rubens' "Philemon and Baucis Giving Hospitality to Jupiter and Mercury" is a climactic snapshot of a tale from Greek mythology, where the two deities disguised as travelers reveal their true identity in front of a hospitable elderly couple after being turned away at every other door.

In addition, there is a series of floral still-life paintings produced in remarkable delicacy and a style of trompe l'oeil by Flemish artist Jan Brueghel the Elder. Below the illusory bouquet containing flowers of all four seasons ― an impossible combination during the 17th century ― are withered and fallen petals, alluding to memento mori, or the inescapability of death.

"Marie Antoinette, Queen of France" (1778) by Marie Louise Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun / Courtesy of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

Also on display are the shrewdly observed portraits of Maria Theresia (1717-80), the first and only female sovereign of the Habsburg dominions within the centuries-old dynasty, as well as ill-fated Queen Marie Antoinette of France (1755-93) in a pale silk dress and French military leader Napoleon I (1769-1821) after he was crowned king of Italy in 1805.

After presenting how the Kunsthistorisches Museum came into being as a repository of Habsburg art trove in the late 19th century at the initiative of Emperor Francis Joseph I (1830-1916), the exhibition ends with a surprising appearance of late Joseon-era armor and helmet gifted by King Gojong (1852-1919) to the Austrian emperor to celebrate the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1892.

Late Joseon-era armor and helmet (1890-94) gifted by King Gojong to Emperor Francis Joseph I to celebrate the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations in 1892 / Yonhap

"We wanted to give a wide picture of the former imperial collections that are housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum … And we also wanted to focus on different Habsburg collectors to show how the collections grew," Haag said.

A wide picture, indeed. But according to Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, who also attended the exhibition opening, the show is ultimately an enticing "appetizer, a teaser."

"If you want to see more, you have to come to Vienna to see the rest!" he noted.

"Six Centuries of Beauty in the Habsburg Empire" runs through March 1, 2023, at the NMK.