BJÖRN R. TAMMEN: Capriccio

Eine Federzeichnung des Alessandro d’Este von 1598

The present article deals with a unique, late sixteenth-century pen-and-ink drawing belonging to the Graphic Art Collection of the Albertina in Vienna. Attributed to Alessandro d’Este (1568–1642), a member of the Montecchio dynasty who later became Cardinal, the picture juxtaposes music and the kitchen by crudely combining singers with mortar and a swanee whistle. Biographical aspects, musical patronage, and the significance of music both at the Ferrarese court and for d’Este’s cultural identity are contextually considered in this visual capriccio. Given the historical circumstances in general and the annexation of Ferrara to the Papal State in 1597 in particular, the drawing’s date—hand inscribed, 1598—seems to reflect the loss of Ferrara and cultural decline after the death of Duke Alfonso II in an unmistakably sarcastic way.

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