The Art of Solitude: Environments of Prayer at the Bavarian Court of Wilhelm V

Abstract

This essay examines a unique project to revive the place, imagery, and cultural memory of solitude within a reformed Catholic context. Originating at the Munich court of the retired Duke Wilhelm V, the project was closely related to an increase in the practice of meditation across the Catholic world, in which 'controlled' interior spaces as well as material artefacts were given a pivotal role. The focus is on two types of medial and material representations of heremits' spaces, which intersected and interacted with each other: the heremitages built at the initiative of Duke Wilhelm V in his city residence and near his country retreat at Schleissheim; and the series of copper engravings depicting hermits by the Flemish brothers Jan I and Raphael I Sadeler after designs by Maarten de Vos. The new anchorite 'philosophy' that emerged at the court of Wilhelm V soon became fashionable in cities and at court across Europe.