Die Gründung der Albertina

Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen and his wife, Archduchess Marie Christine, laid the foundations in 1776 to the prestigious graphics collection named after Albert. It was unusual for its time in terms of their appreciation for both drawings and prints which they considered as equals to paintings. Against prevailing collecting conventions and traditional genre hierarchies, the Duke and Duchess also maintained the greatest interest for contemporary art. On account of his desire for an encyclopedic completeness to the collection, Albert gave promise to a promotion of contemporary artists. For the first time this volume of essays shows fully the eventful life of the founder of the Albertina and the tension between absolutism, revolution, and the Congress of Vienna.