Animating Empire : Automata, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Early Modern World

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, German clockwork automata were collected, displayed, and given as gifts throughout the Holy Roman, Ottoman, and Mughal Empires. In __Animating Empire__, Jessica Keating recounts the lost history of six such objects and reveals the religious, social, and political meaning they held. The intricate gilt, silver, enameled, and bejeweled clockwork automata, almost exclusively crafted in the city of Augsburg, represented a variety of subjects in motion, from religious figures to animals. Their movements were driven by gears, wheels, and springs painstakingly assembled by clockmakers. Typically wound up and activated by someone in a position of power, these objects and the theological and political arguments they made were highly valued by German-speaking nobility. They were often given as gifts and as tribute payment, and they played remarkable roles in the Holy Roman Empire, particularly with regard to courtly notions about the important early modern issues of universal Christian monarchy, the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation, the encroachment of the Ottoman Empire, and global trade. Demonstrating how automata produced in the Holy Roman Empire spoke to a convergence of historical, religious, and political circumstances, __Animating Empire__ is a fascinating analysis of the animation of inanimate matter in the early modern period. It will appeal especially to art historians and historians of early modern Europe. E-book editions have been made possible through support of the Art History Publication Initiative (AHPI), a collaborative grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, German clockworkautomata were collected, displayed, and given as gifts throughoutthe Holy Roman, Ottoman, and Mughal Empires. In AnimatingEmpire, Jessica Keating recounts the lost history of six suchobjects and reveals the religious, social, and political meaningthey held.

The intricate gilt, silver, enameled, and bejeweled clockworkautomata, almost exclusively crafted in the city of Augsburg,represented a variety of subjects in motion, from religious figuresto animals. Their movements were driven by gears, wheels, andsprings painstakingly assembled by clockmakers. Typically wound upand activated by someone in a position of power, these objects andthe theological and political arguments they made were highlyvalued by German-speaking nobility. They were often given as giftsand as tribute payment, and they played remarkable roles in theHoly Roman Empire, particularly with regard to courtly notionsabout the important early modern issues of universal Christianmonarchy, the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation, theencroachment of the Ottoman Empire, and global trade.

Demonstrating how automata produced in the Holy Roman Empirespoke to a convergence of historical, religious, and politicalcircumstances, Animating Empire is a fascinating analysisof the animation of inanimate matter in the early modern period. Itwill appeal especially to art historians and historians of earlymodern Europe.

E-book editions have been made possible through support of theArt History Publication Initiative (AHPI), a collaborative grantfrom the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

"Recounts the histories of German clockwork automata, which were given as gifts and collected in the Holy Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and Mughal Empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries"--Résumé de l'éditeur "Recounts the histories of German clockwork automata, which were given as gifts and collected in the Holy Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and Mughal Empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries"--Provided by publisher