Homage to a Tutelary Goddess (further interpretation: Allegory of Empress Elisabeth Christine as Astraea)
Johann Michael Rottmayr (1654 - 1730)
Framesize 112.00 x 83.00 x 7.00 cm
Damage to the surface paint increases the difficulty of interpreting Rottmayr’s oil sketch. Is that a tutelary goddess seated above, before a mural crown? Could this be a homage to the Empress Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel? Or do we accept Ulrich Nefzger’s view that the sketch is connected with Rottmayr’s own life? He spent 13 years working in Venice, so the wall coping and sceptre could represent Venezia, ruler over the terra ferma and over the sea, represented by Neptune, Triton and water god.
DUCKE Astrid: Johann Michael Rottmayr, Homage to a Tutelary Goddess (further interpretation: Allegory of Empress Elisabeth Christine as Astraea), object description for the exhibition "Masterworks. Residenzgalerie Salzburg" (23.2.-3.7.2022)
More artworks by Johann Michael Rottmayr
The Apotheosis of St Charles Borromeo (Sketch for the left side-altar painting in the Collegiate Church, Salzburg), um 1721
Johann Michael Rottmayr
Inv. no. 259
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