The Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna’s collections include a unique treasure: the imperial crown. Its legendary association with Charlemagne ensured both that the Imperial Crown was venerated as a sacred relic of this canonized ruler and its status as an insignia of the Holy Roman Empire. The crown remained in use until the last coronation in 1792, embedding itself in our collective memory as one of the most important and evocative symbols of European history.
Its use, however, not only ensured its preservation. It also led to numerous losses, damages and repairs that deeply impacted the crown’s present-day condition and appearance.
Ideal portrait of Charlemagne (747-814), copy after Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), late 16th or early 17th century. KHM-Museumsverband, Gemäldegalerie
The Museum launched in 2022 the “Crown Projet”: an interdisciplinary research project whose aim is to learn more about the materiality, technology and state of preservation of the Imperial Crown. It brings together art historians, conservators and scientists benefitting from their expertise, know-how and respective approaches to develop a collaborative research platform. For the very first time, material compositions, techniques, interventions and alterations got comprehensively analysed and documented. In addition, a number of comparative goldsmith’s works (10th/11th century) were selected to gain additional information on materials and techniques used in other places. All of these data material is studied and analysed by the experts in Vienna in collaboration with experts from institutions like the Louvre and the C2RMF in Paris, the Rathgen Forschungslabor in Berlin and the Bavarian National Library in Munich.
The CROWN project is scheduled to run until the end of 2024. It will lead to even more great and astonishing observations and results than expected, which the Museum will make available and accessible to the general public in a second phase. Among other data, approximately 30,000 3D-digital microscopy images have been created. These images offer unprecedented insights into the crown’s structure, its craftsmanship and its state of preservation. More than 1750 individual components have been detected, many of which are complex structures themselves. Technical drawings are intended to ‘translate’ the information and provide a good and clear understanding not only to researchers, but also to less experienced viewers.
This project contributes to making culture accessible: it makes the scientific results of the CROWN project accessible to a broader public through drawings and a digital 3D-model, including school classes, younger audiences and people interested in technology.
The support of Fondation Etrillard helps the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna to be able to realize a large number of drawings as well as the 3-D model of the crown. A documentary on the project will be presented on Austrian television by the end of 2024.
Find out more: www.projekt-reichskrone.at
