Jewel Book of the Duchess Anna of Bavaria, 1552

$5.00 Purchase

This unique manuscript was commissioned in 1552 by Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria, the founder of what is today the Bavarian State Library. The manuscript is an inventory of the jewelry owned by the duke and his wife, Duchess Anna, a member of the Habsburg dynasty and a daughter of Emperor Ferdinand I. The work contains 110 magnificent drawings by the Munich court painter Hans Mielich. One of the most impressive of these drawings is the front page miniature showing Albrecht and Anna playing chess, with Albrecht portrayed as a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Because of its outstanding importance as a work of art, the manuscript was kept in the private ducal and electoral Chamber of Artifacts for almost three centuries — long after the originals of the jewelry depicted had been lost. Only in 1843 was the work presented to the Bavarian State Library by King Ludwig I.

Illustrator: Mielich, Hans, 1516-1573
Date Created: Around 1552 CE – 1555 CE
Publication Information: Munich
Language: German
Title in Original Language: Kleinodienbuch der Herzogin Anna von Bayern
File Size: 18.1MB, 141 Pages

Files Included:
  • Jewel_Book_of_the_Duchess_Anna_of_Bavaria.pdf