More than Muses - Shopping for Art - women as buyers and collectors

21/6/19 - Jo Walton

Two historical Renaissance art collectors - Isabelle D'Este (influenced by her men) and Margaret of Austria (influenced by her women).  Tough women.  Prestigious women who increased their estates by patronage and building art collections.

Isabelle d'Este Duchess of Ferrara.  Marries Marquis of Mantua.  Powerful but small states.  Funded by mercenary armed war money.  Worked in studio gallery of father.  Favourite of father - highly educated like his sons.  Engaged at age 6, marries age 16.  Arranged, advantageous marriages.  Becomes diplomat.  In Mantua builds own studiodo for paintings, antiquities and other works.  1500 works on her death.

Husband was commander of army - often away.  Isabelle takes over in his absence.  Conscientious.  Negotiates good prices with aid of art tutor/mentor Montegna.  Helps his debts by taking his paintings.

Isabelle d'Este - careful of image of self - beautiful and young.  Did not collect religious art.  Parnassus - muses dancing.  Pallas expelling the vices.  Chasing the best of the modern, the interesting, the intellectually stimulating.   380+ images at death.  Portraits and devotional types (for women).  Liked realism.  Died of gangrene because of glass splinter in foot.

Margaret of Austria.  Northern Flemish.  Lots of unhappiness in her life.  Daughter of Duchy of Burgundy - Maximillian of Austria (Rome - women can inherit; France - women cannot).   Father dies young. She inherits and becomes known as Margaret the Rich. At age 2, her mother is fatally injured in hunting accident. Inherits her mother's library.  Stepmother is Margaret of York. Age 3 sent as betrothed to Amboise as fiancée of Charles 8th (aged 13).  Educated in France by Regent to be Queen.  Charles 8th, aged 21, refuses to marry Margaret of Austria (aged 8) for political reasons.  He marries someone else, and Margaret of Austria is sent back to The Netherlands.  Marries Philip of Castile and becomes part of House of Spain. Marries and is happy.  Gets on with Marquis of Castile.  Husband dies while Margaret of Austria is pregnant, subsequently she has stillbirth. Collects art.  Back to Bechlan.  Age 20 marries Phillibert of Savoy.  Age 24 widowed when Philibert dies.  No more marriages.  High profile widow - Duchess of Savoy.  Brother dies.  Aunt Margaret gets care of children.

Katie Faulkner, Queen Victoria's Art Collection

Considers QV's own public image, and private collection.

QV opposed to women in public life other than herself!  Opposed to women's ownership and suffrage.  Context - weakness of reigning Georges and upcoming middle classes.

QV commissioned many portraits of self to promote herself and her image.  Portrait painter Wilkie was favoured by William IV (her predecessor) - QV disliked him and the portrait he did of her.

QV was ambivalent about marriage.  Hated living with Queen Mary - finds Albert of Saxe Cobourg & Gotha.  Liked Sir George Haytor for his domestic royal images of the Royal Family, designed to appeal to middle classes.  Passive to duty, moral power.  Commissions portrait for husband.  Off the shoulder, seductive, sexualised - for Albert.

Eos - dog.  Hunting showed prowess, hat, gloves, cane - authority.
Emil Wolff - sculpture of Prince Albert - protector?  UK and Cobourg house - neo-classicism.
Marbel casts of their children's hands and feet.
Decorative art - standing salt cellar - Minton dessert service.
Photography - Windsor Castle.

Albert memorial - Dcoumented his rooms in Windsor Castle.  Published is speeches and reports.  Not an institution for the arts - but a traditional memorial.  Gothic revival - eleven crosses.  Statue of Albert - looks down Exhibition Road - holding Great Exhibition catalogue - his greatest achievement?  Shows the useful arts - statues representing agriculture, commerce, engineering and manufacturing.  Also Africa, America, Asia and Europe represented.

QV went into mourning until 1870s.  Disraeli gets her back into public.  Gains Suez - British shipping route.  Royal titles Bill - becomes Empress of India.  Embrace status of India at Osbourne House - Learns Urdu with Abdul Karim.  India room at OH created by Indian designers and British Craftsmen.