Michal Šroněk

Turkish Illustrated Albums, the Codex Vindobonensis 8626, and Heinrich Hendrowski / Jindřich Jindrovský

The study addresses the question of the authorship of the illustrated album known as the Codex Vindobonensis (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Wien, Cod. 8626 — hereinafter simply as Codex Vindobonensis) which contains large-format illuminations depicting various real-life details of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the sixteenth century. The study seeks to reassess an earlier attribution of this codex to an otherwise unknown painter named Heinrich Hendrowski, whom it identifies as the painter known in Prague between 1592 and 1604 under the name Jindřich Jindrovský. It arrives at the conclusion that this painter certainly did not produce the codex during his stay in Constantinople in 1588–1589, but that the work was created shortly thereafter in Prague among the court artists of Emperor Rudolf II. Given that the Codex Vindobonensis includes new motifs inspired by Turkish culture (similar to those in comparable illustrated albums preserved in Doha and Kassel), the author assumes the existence of a shared model for these motifs and does not exclude the possibility that Heinrich Hendrowski himself may have been its creator.

Author's email:

msronek@ff.jcu.cz

DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.54759/ART-2026-0103



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