Transnational politics of prestige? Museums and art collections in German and Italian states in the first half of the nineteenth century

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the period Koselleck called the Sattelzeit (roughly 1750 to 1850) princely chambers of curiosities became public museums that the elites visited for educational purposes. The Louvre in Paris served as the principal model. Here, after 1800, a chronological (and canonical) collection came into being and that would be emulated by other European rulers. The plurality of territorial states meant that museums and art galleries were rebuilt or maintained in many Italian and German cities, all of which claimed to represent the respective national culture. What was exhibited in European museums from the 1840s onwards was intended to increase the fame of the rulers and the prestige of their capital cities. This contribution is a comparative analysis of how non-national affiliations and loyalties shaped the foundation of Italian and German museums before 1850 while the ideal of a ‘national’ museum drastically changed after the formation of the nation states.