Rudolf II introducing the Liberal Arts to Bohemia

Two fine bronze allegorical reliefs characteristic of the iconography of Rudolfian court art are the Allegory on the Turkish War in Hungary (1603, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) and Rudolf II introducing the Liberal Arts to Bohemia (1609; Windsor Castle, Royal Collection). Such works reveal stylistic and thematic similarities with works by the Prague court painters; indeed, the Turkish War was modelled after designs by Hans von Aachen.

The present bronze relief depicts the Emperor Rudolf II on horseback, dressed in Roman armour, mounted on a rearing horse and leading a procession of figures emblematic of the Liberal Arts, led by Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, against an idealised architectural backdrop. The emperor’s horse tramples on Ignorance, whilst in the background Hercules weilds his club at a fleeing satyr. Figures of Fame and Bohemia frame the foreground,

By reaching out to touch the hand of the figure of Painting, the Emperor appears to be showing favour to her art above all others. Yet by his skill in accomplishing the relief itself in answer to a commission from the Emperor, de Vries makes his own case for the supremacy of Sculpture.