Book Commemorating the Wedding Anniversary of Franz Joseph I and his Wife
On April 27, 1879, an elaborate pageant was held in the streets of Vienna to celebrate the 25th wedding anniversary of Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I and his wife Elisabeth. The pageant included floats that featured students, firemen, craftsmen, artists, and local organizations in Renaissance costumes designed by Hans Makart, a 19th century celebrity artist in Vienna. Instead of focusing on the aristocracy, Makart featured skilled workers as a way to promote the riches and success of the Habsburg Empire.
Hans Makart was a prominent artist in Austria in the late 1800s. In addition to private portraits, Makart’s works decorated many public and private buildings along the Ringstrasse, a main boulevard in Vienna. His work influenced many artists included Gustav Klimt, who later rebelled against Makart’s conservative style in favor of a more contemporary style in the Vienna Secession, an art movement created in 1897.
Festzug der Stadt Wien den 27 April 1879 features 47 chromolithographic prints of watercolors by Eduard Stadlin (1845-1881) of the pageant. The images, measuring 17 x 51 cm each, were created in 1880 and were originally presented loose in a binder, but the Special Collections copy was rebound in the 20th century. Each image features a tableau of a group that participated in the pageant including the butcher’s guild, local winemakers, and glaziers.
Special Collections’ copy of this collection of prints is one of five in the United States with other copies at the Library of Congress, Columbia University, the New York Public Library, and the Getty. To view this item, visit room 305 in McCain Library & Archives Monday – Friday from 9-4.
If you have any questions, contact Jennifer Brannock at Jennifer.Brannock@usm.edu or 601.266.4347.
Sites Consulted
“The Story of Hans Makart,” Secret Vienna
Text by Jennifer Brannock, Curator of Rare Books & Mississippiana