Collecting and Identity. Meanings and Interpretations
KapitolaPál Esterházy’s Pride and Joy: His Schatzkammer in Burg Forchtenstein
Rok vydání: 2026https://doi.org/10.5817/CZ.MUNI.P280-0874-2026-1
Abstrakt
The paper examines the creation and significance of Prince Pál Esterházy’s (1635–1713) Schatzkammer at Burg Forchtenstein. Drawing on inventories, wills, economic records, and newly discovered archival sources, it explores the relationship between the collector and his collection and demonstrates how collecting functioned as a means of constructing personal and dynastic identity. Particular attention is paid to its role in the representation of power, fame, and memoria. The study argues that the treasury at Forchtenstein was more than a repository of precious objects; it constituted a carefully conceived and highly personal project through which Pál Esterházy fashioned a monument to himself and his family. The Schatzkammer thus emerges as a distinctive example of the interplay between collecting, self-representation, and identity formation within the culture of the early modern Hungarian aristocracy.
Klíčová slova
Pál Esterházy, Hungary, collecting, self-representation, identity,