Peter Strudel in den Diensten des Olmützer Bischofs

In the archive materials belonging to the Archbishopric of Olomouc there are several letters relating to the painter and sculptor Peter Strudel (1660–1714). One of them comes from his own hand, while the others are from the correspondence of the imperial architect Giovanni Pietro Tencalla (1629–1702), who lived for a long time in Vienna and acted as mediator for the Bishop of Olomouc in contacts with a number of other artists. This article does not add any hitherto unknown and extant works to the œuvre of Peter Strudel (1660–1714). However, based on an analysis and interpretation of recently discovered and transcribed archive documents, it presents new findings on the work this painter did in Moravia in the service of Karl II of LiechtensteinCastelcorn, Bishop of Olomouc (1624–1695), one of the most prominent patrons of the arts in Central Europe in the second half of the 17th century. From the correspondence referring to Peter Strudel from the years 1685–1689 it transpires that the Bishop of Olomouc commissioned him to produce a painting, the subject matter of which is unknown. The process of creating this work (which has not been preserved) was accompanied by a disagreement with the Bishop, because the completion of the work was delayed by several years while the painter was busy with other commissions. The correspondence also reveals that one of the Strudel brothers, probably Paul, produced a portrait of the Bishop in marble in 1693, whose whereabouts is today unknown.