Discovering Mughal painting in Vienna by Josef Strzygowski and his circle: the historiography of the Millionenzimmer

Abstract

The paper discusses the ‘discovery’ of Mughal painting at Vienna and the pioneering research dedicated to it from the 1920s onwards by Josef Strzygowski and his circle. The focus is on the so-called Millionenzimmer at Schönbrunn Palace which was decorated in the 1760s under Maria Theresa with collages made of cut-up paintings of the Mughal empire. The dialectics of this unique decoration scheme are unravelled which emerges as a destructive and at the same time emphatic appropriation of the ‘other’. An additional interest is provided by the connection to Rembrandt and Schellinks who copied Mughal miniatures for which the prototypes appear in the Millionenzimmer. The conclusion draws a parallel to Mughal artistic appropriations.

Keywords

• josef strzygowski
• mughal painting
• schönbrunn palace
• chinoiserie
• orientalist approach
• rembrandt
• schellinks