[Paper:] Marco Bogade (Potsdam), Coats of arms within the Representative Iconographic Programmes of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor

In 2000 Ivo Rosario published a monograph whose title –“Art and propaganda. Charles IV of Bohemia” – already indicates the specific of the reign of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (1316-1378): the absorption of art for political means. The term “propaganda”, with its negative connotation in terms of influencing the attitude of the addressees of these artistic monuments, should be considered in this context despite its undoubtedly also manipulative role or effect rather from the perspective of the sovereign or state representation, proceeding from a medieval self-conception of rule or sovereign respectively.

The patronage of Charles IV is based upon the sovereign’s appreciation of art just as much as upon the need to stage a self-conception of sovereign or state in the public as well as in the non-public area between the poles of what Franz Machilek called already in 1978 “private and public piety”. From no other medieval ruler before him are so many portraits and pictures delivered to posterity. Some of these are embedded in intricate iconographic and heraldic programmes, whose design was probably (co-) created by Charles IV himself.

The presentation will have a closer look at two of these programmes – the Old Town Bridge Tower in Prague and Eastern Choir of St. Vitus Cathedral – in Prague whom the Emperor developed to be an economic, political and cultural metropolis in the middle of 14^th century. The focus will be on the interplay between likeness, inscription and heraldic elements regarding to the donations’ public and private spheres within the late medieval city.

Conference: Heraldry in the Medieval City: The Case of Italy in the European Context (Journées Héraldiques 5), Rome, 5th-7th May 2015

Marco Bogade was born 1974 in Bamberg. After studying art history, medieval archaeology, heritage sciences and Czech studies at the universities of Bamberg, Berlin and Olmütz/Olomouc he obtained his doctorate in 2005 with the thesis „Kaiser Karl IV. Ikonographie und Ikonologie“. Since 2014 he has been working as coordinator of the exhibition „Reformation in Eastern Central Europe“ and since 2015 he is employed at the „Akademie Mitteleuropa“ (Academy of Central Europe) in Bad Kissingen. He teaches art history at the University of Passau. His main fields of research are the history of art and culture of Transylvania and the Czech lands patricularly in medieval and early modern times.