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As queen consort and dowager, Hedwig Eleonora (1636-1715) held a unique position in Sweden for more than half a century. As the dominant collector and patron of art and architecture in the realm, she left a strong mark on Swedish court culture. Her dynastic network among the Northern European courts was extensive, and this helped to make Sweden a major cultural center in Northern Europe in the later seventeenth century. This book represents the first major scholarly publication on the full range of Hedwig Eleonora's endeavours, from the financing of her court to her place within a larger princely network, to her engagements with various cultural pursuits, to her public image. As the contributors show, despite her high profile, political position, and conspicuous patronage, Hedwig Eleonora experienced little of the animosity directed at many other foreign queens and regents, such as the Medici in France and Henrietta Maria in England. In this way, she provides a model for a different and more successful way of negotiating the difficulties of joining a foreign court; the analysis of her circumstances thus adds a substantial dimension to the study of early modern queenship. Presenting much new scholarship, this volume highlights one extremely significant early modern woman and her imprint on Northern European history, and fosters international awareness of the importance of early modern Scandinavia for European cultural history.
List of contents
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: Queen Hedwig Eleonora and the Arts
Kristoffer Neville and Lisa Skogh (University of California, Riverside; Victoria and Albert Museum, London)
2. "The Queen of the North": Hedwig Eleonora and her German Family in Paint and Print
Jill Bepler (Herzog August Library, Wolfenbüttel)
3. Queen Hedwig Eleonora's Societal Network within the Tugendliche and the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft
Gabriele Ball (Herzog August Library, Wolfenbüttel)
4. Hedwig Eleonora as Dowager Queen and Administrator
Björn Asker (National Archives, Stockholm)
5. The Pretiosa Cabinet at Ulriksdal Palace
Lisa Skogh (Victoria and Albert Museum, London)
6. Hedwig Eleonora as Patron of David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl
Kjell Wangensteen (Princeton University)
7. The Wilderness inside Drottningholm: David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl and the Northern Nature at the Court of Hedwig Eleonora
Mikael Ahlund (Uppsala University Art Museums, Uppsala)
8. David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl s Portraits of Hedwig Eleonora s Siblings: Invention and the Presentation of the Family
Lars-Olof Larsson (Christian-Albrecht-University, Kiel)
9. Hedwig Eleonora and Building as a Princely Pursuit
Lars Ljungström (Royal Collections, Stockholm)
10. Hedwig Eleonora and the Practice of Architecture
Kristoffer Neville (University of California, Riverside)
11. Hedwig Eleonora, Lund University, and the Learned
Anders Jarlert (Lund University)
12. Ballet, Kunstkammer, and the Education of Princess Hedwig Eleonora at the Gottorf Court
Mara Wade (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
13. Hedwig Eleonora and Music at the Swedish Court, 1654-1726
Maria Schildt (Uppsala University)
14. Hedwig Eleonora in Print-from "Citronat" to "Wundermutter"
Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly (Oxford University)
