Representation of the Habsburgs in Croatian Historical Lands Public Spaces and Religious Art as Political Tools

Abstract

The long-term political dominance of Habsburgs over the Croatian historical lands left evident traces in urbanism and architecture, as well as in cultural and artistic. Some aspects of personal representation of Habsburg monarchs shall be brought out, particularly the use of public and sacred spaces for maintaining the sense of constant presence of the monarchs in the framework of profane and religious scenery. The prominent examples of the public representation of Habsburgs are the portraits of King Leopold I and Charles VI conceived as high relieve busts on the pediment of the City gates in Rijeka (Fiume), accompanied by the Habsburgs’ Coat of arms and inscriptions in Latin that witness the complicated history of the monument. The Habsburgs’ Coat of arms from 1671, the inscription addressing to Magno Leopoldo Caesari, who granted in 1695 to the city of Rijeka its own Coat of arms, a sort of twisted version of the imperial emblem, as well as the relieve busts of the two Holy Roman Emperors, have been assembled in a new composition after a massive earthquake in 1750 on the initiative of Maria Theresa, in order to emphasize the important role of the House of Habsburg in the history of Rijeka. Apart from the strategically important issues − primarily the formation of the effective defense system against Ottomans − the awareness of the sovereignty of Habsburgs over the Croatian historical lands in the time of reign of Maria Theresa and Joseph II had constantly been kept alive by their patronage over the newly built churches and donations of artworks, liturgical vestments and goldsmith’s works. During the reign of the Empress a considerable number of churches have been built under her patronage, but one of them had a special place in conveying political message in the framework of religious iconography − the Cathedral of St Theresa of Avila in Požega built in 1756/1763. Its high altar with the baldachin crown of St Stephen and its altarpiece presenting the Ecstasy of St Theresa of Avila, a gift by Maria Teresa to Franjo Thauzy, the bishop of Zagreb diocese and founder of its Slavonian Chapter, is the explicit metaphor of the apotheosis of the Empress as the sovereign over Hungary.