Vienna collection offers taste of exotic treasures

The Kunstkammer of the Vienna Museum of Art History. The chamber of artworks has re-opened after being closed for 10 years of renovation.By Albert Otti   The monster goblet of Emperor Rudolf II was meant to shock and awe, and its still does, 400 years after it was made.The beast on the cup’s lid bares its golden teeth, and large horns sprout from its head. Below, life-like metal spiders and frogs crawl on the tall vessel that was carved from a rhinoceros horn.The object is part of the Kunstkammer, the Habsburg’s extensive collection of rare and exotic artworks and natural objects. It was recently reopened after 11 years of renovation inside Austria’s national gallery, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.The imperial rulers amassed sculptures made from gold, silver, or ivory. They bought gemstones, shells, bird eggs and horns from faraway lands and decorated them with precious metals. They collected mechanical gadgets, clocks and scientific instruments.And they put all these things into cabinets and rooms that served as a touchable Wikipedia of the Renaissance and Baroque eras, bringing together nature with the world of art.Other royal families owned similar treasures, some of which are still on display in Madrid, Paris or Dresden.However, the Vienna collection is unique because it stayed intact, said Georg Laue, a German art dealer and historian who specialises in such objects.“There is no art and curiosity cabinet in the whole world that brings together such an amount of treasures,” he said of the Vienna Kunstkammer.While other museums might own a single pieces made by a famous artisan, the Kunsthistorisches owns five, he said.In the late 16th and early 17th century, Rudolf II commissioned a large share of the current collection from his court in Prague.“He brought together artists and artisans who together produced the best of the best for their prince,” the Kunstkammer’s curator Franz Kirchweger said.“The collector wanted to be surprised and entertained. It was a very sensual kind of art experience” he said, standing in front of the bizarre rhinoceros horn cup.At that time, such objects were not only meant to be looked at, but also touched and discussed by the emperor and his guests. Some of the pieces were used for drinking games.One clockwork figurine of a mythical centaur — half man, half horse — would drive around in unexpected twists and turns on the royal dinner table at the start of the 17th century.The creature would roll its eyes and would eventually shoot a small silver arrow at a random guest, who would then have to make a toast.“It was considered a miracle that man could make something that moved by itself, similar to God,” Kirchweger said of this and similar machines. “A prince could present himself as someone who set the world in motion.”Such gadgets, some of which shot miniature cannons and played music, were among the most difficult and expensive to restore before the reopening.But the main reason why the collection was closed to the public for so long was that the rooms and displays had to be brought up to modern scientific and security standards.The most expensive object was stolen in 2003. Security guards assumed there was yet another false alarm and did not react while a thief took the Saliera, a sculptural golden salt vessel valued at €50mn ($65mn). The object that depicts the gods of sea and earth was recovered three years later. It is now at the centre of the new display.While most of the European masterpieces are given a lot of space, the room with exotic objects from former colonies seems a bit crammed, even though the craftsmanship on display is of equal quality.Many of these so-called “exotica” show how Western and Eastern styles melded centuries ago.For example, a 16th-century ivory box from what is now Sri Lanka shows fine carvings of local myths, but the casket itself has a European shape.Emperors and other collectors relied on art agents, who travelled widely to find or commission valuable and exciting new pieces, Laue said.“In fact, that’s the job I’m doing today,” the Munich-based trader said.He is among a handful of gallery owners who have been profiting from a growing interest in pieces that once filled art and curiosity cabinets.After all, some century-old art has a modern appeal, like the Kunstkammer’s Fury, an image of madness carved from ivory, or two uncannily realistic Renaissance busts of a young man and a young woman.At the same time, several contemporary artists have been producing work that melds nature with art, to shocking or surprising effect.Britain’s Damien Hirst has displayed dead animals in formaldehyde and has covered a skull with diamonds. Italian ceramic artists Bertozzi & Casoni create hyper-realistic sculptures of animals full of symbolic meaning.However, Laue insisted there is one key difference between pieces from the past and the present: “Contemporary art does not reach the level of historical craftsmanship,” he said. — DPA