Benutzerspezifische Werkzeuge

A Liebhaberin of the Arts. Hedwig Eleonora of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf (1636-1715), Queen Dowager of Sweden, as Collector and Patron

Hedwig Eleonora and her cultural activities have been overlooked by most historians. The period of the Swedish absolutist regime (1680-1720) and the artistic production around the court has until now mainly focused on her husband and son, but not on the period’s foremost important patron and commissioner, the Queen Dowager Hedwig Eleonora. At this workshop I will intially present a layout of the disseration at large, but the main focus of the workshop is to present an analysis on how Hedwig Eleonora’s many roles were constructed through the various artistic media that she commissioned. As the eldest of a royal dynasty, at times de facto ruler, and for 50 years economically independent, Hedwig Eleonora played a crucial role in forming the Swedish artistic climate. At this workshop, I will argue that her patronage displayed these varied, sometimes conflicting, roles. Her public persona and her role as a Liebhaberin, a Lover of the Arts, will be analysed through portraiture, pretiosa and the milieus for which they were intended.