Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg

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Field Marshal
(Venice)
Battles/wars
Other workArt collector

Marshal Johann Matthias Reichsgraf[1] von der Schulenburg (8 August 1661 – 14 March 1747) was a German aristocrat and general of Brandenburg-Prussian background who served in the Saxon and Venetian armies in the early 18th century and found a second career in retirement in Venice, as a grand collector and patron. His sister was Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal. His father was Gustavus Adolphus, Baron von der Schulenburg.[2]

Schulenburg as mercenary

Schulenburg in 1719 by Panagiotis Doxaras

Schulenburg was born in

Battle of Oudenaarde, the Siege of Tournai and the Battle of Malplaquet in the wars of Spanish Succession
.

The latter service brought him to the attention of

, was commissioned in celebration of the victory.

Schulenburg as art collector

Reichsgraf von der Schulenburg: marble statue in Corfu
.

In his retirement in Venice from 1718, the

Gian Maria Morlaiter. He also had a relationship with famous Greek painter Panagiotis Doxaras and his son Nikolaos Doxaras. Nikolaos Doxaras lived with Schulenburg in Venice from 1730-1738 at the Palazzo Loredan. He was his confidant at the Schulenburg Art Gallery. He also painted for Schulenburg.[4]

Schulenburg supported

Gian Antonio Guardi with a monthly salary, 1730–36, and on a commission basis thereafter.[5] In general, Guardi worked at making portraits of foreign aristocracy and royalty to impressively adorn the walls at Ca' Loredan, and at copying masterpieces of the Venetian past including works of Paolo Veronese and Tintoretto. Francesco Simonini was commissioned to produce a series of paintings commemorating Schulenburg's battles. Canaletto
painted a view of Corfu, the site of his victories.

He also employed

genre paintings
, two types of works popular with Schulenburg; Piazzetta made an inventory of the collection in 1739.

Schulenburg's paintings were mainly Italian works of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with some Flemish and Dutch paintings. He owned six paintings by

Frederick II of Prussia. A group of 150 pieces were sold at auction in London in April 1775.[8]

Notes

  1. ^ Regarding personal names: Reichsgraf is a title, usually translated as Imperial Count, not a first or middle name. The female form is Reichsgräfin. Titles using the prefix Reichs- were not created after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire.
  2. ^ thepeerage.com Retrieved August 3, 2010
  3. ^ Alice Binion, "From Schulenburg's Gallery and Records" The Burlington Magazine 112 No. 806 (May 1970:297-303); a rich archive documenting Schulenburg's collection is deposited in the Niedersächsische Staatsarchiv, Hanover.
  4. ^ Drakopoulou, Eugenia (2010). Greek painters after the fall (1450-1830) Volume C. Center for Modern Greek Studies E.I.E. pp. 270–272.
  5. ^ His patronage of Guardi is discussed by Antonio Morassi, "Antonio Guardi ai servigi del Feldmareschiallo Schulenburg", Emporium 131 (1960:147-64, 199-212).
  6. ^ Binion 1970:301.
  7. ^ Schulenburg had the largest contemporary collection of Piazzetta's works, thirteen paintings and at least nineteen drawings (Binion 1970:301).
  8. ^ Binion 1970:298.

Sources

  • Fr. Albr. v. d. Schulenburg: Leben und Denkwürdigkeiten des Johann Matthias v. d. Schulenburg (Leipzig 1834, 2 vols.). (Life and facts about Johann Matthias Schulenburg (Leipzig 1834, 2 Vol.))
  • Werner v. d. Schulenburg: Der König von Korfu 1950. A novelistic account of the siege of Corfu.Roman über die Verteidigung Korfus gegen die Türken); 1950. (The King of Corfu. An account of the defense of Corfu against the Turks. (1950)).
  • Haskell, Francis (1993). "Chapter 11". Patrons and Painters: Art and Society in Baroque Italy. 1980. Yale University Press. pp. 311–13.

External links