Ludwig I of Bavaria and Johann Martin von Wagner

The correspondence

The correspondence between King Ludwig I of Bavaria and his agent in Rome, Johann Martin von Wagner, contains around 1,470 handwritten letters. This constitutes an excellent source for both the rediscovery of the classical era and the transition from idealism and classicism to romanticism and historicism in the history of art in Germany. In addition, it makes it possible to retrace the history of the planning and creation of Ludwig's extensive collection and uncovers the monarch's political reasons for doing so.
Rome, the cultural center of Europe, is the focal point in the correspondence. However, it also focuses on the construction and arrangement of the Glyptothek in Munich, the completion of the Walhalla in Regensburg and the role played by Bavaria on the European art scene during the first half of the 19th century. Lastly, the correspondence documents a multitude of art works negotiated in Rome, making it a significant resource for provenance research.
The current edition (June 2018) contains 250 letters and documents from the years 1809 to 1815, with a general introduction, records, transcriptions, critical commentaries and drawings attached to the letters. The first volume of the edition is available in print and online. In the coming years the whole correspondence, up to 1858, will be published.