Imagines Gentis Austriacae

The luxury volume of engravings entitled Imagines Gentis Austriacae was published at the behest of Archduke Ferdinand II in five volumes containing a total of seventy-four full-length portraits of Habsburgs together with their wives and forebears. The individual volumes are dedicated to members of the House of Austria, including Emperor Maximilian II, Archduke Ferdinand II, Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria, King Philip II of Spain and Maria of Spain, wife of Maximilian II. The work is based on the historical writings of Jakob Mennel, Stabius and Wolfgang Lazius, and follows the precepts of the historiography promoted by Maximilian I, which featured legendary elements. As a historiographical work, the Imagines was important in influencing the decoration of the Spanish Hall at Ambras Castle, the Armamentarium Heroicum and a series of terracotta statuettes of members of the House of Austria from the seventeenth century. The purpose of the Imagines was as deliberate politico-dynastic propaganda, the visualization of the extensive Habsburg genealogy and the commemoration of particular exploits of the individuals portrayed. As Scheicher (1983) points out, the depictions are stereotypical, since each individual is placed against an architectural background and surrounded by allegorical attributes.