Baroque hidden object pictures

The copperplate prints of the act of hereditary homage

Contemporary accounts of the ceremonies of hereditary homage from Emperor Joseph I to Maria Theresa were extensive and printed in large-format. The schedule, order of festivities and assembly of the kilometre-long procession are meticulously described, from the trumpeters and drummers to the named officials of the estates to the members of the nobility who carried out honorary functions.

These publications were accompanied by copperplate prints illustrating the highlights of the ceremony: the recovery of the archducal hat from Klosterneuburg, the procession on Vienna’s Graben, the High Mass in St. Stephen’s, the oath of allegiance in the Knights’ Room at the Hofburg, the Te Deum in the Hofburg Chapel and finally the banquet in the Hofburg. An unbelievable amount of people took part in this spectacle!

Your gaze soon gets lost in the picture stories which develop around the main action. These copperplate prints were widely distributed, the mass media of olden times.