Emperor Rudolph II
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Emperor Rudolph II” now? Victoria and Albert Museum, Europe 1600-1815, Room 6, The Lisa and Bernard Selz Gallery, London. Yes, on view now. Checked September 25, 2026.
London, United Kingdom
RoomEurope 1600-1815, Room 6, The Lisa and Bernard Selz Gallery
Closed· opens at 10:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
Small full-length portraits, mostly paintings, but sometimes executed in other media, were common objects for display in the Cabinet (small, private rooms for the storage and display of collectors' curiosities). This high relief sculpture is executed in wax, a medium which allows for the use of colour, and the texture of which naturally suggests flesh. It was made by Wenzel Maler, one of the leading exponents of wax modelling in seventeenth-century Nuremburg, and depicts the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II. The date of 1606 may suggest that the portrait is intended to comemorate the ending of the so-called Long War against the Ottomans, which was concluded in that year.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1208-1864
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
