Abstract
Renaissance tombstone of Archduke Ferdinand II. in the Innsbruck court church (Hofkirche) is a valuable proof of the artistically successful posthumous representation of the Tyrolean ruler. With its concept and iconographic processing, it also offers the asking of a number of questions.
This applies in particular to the four marble reliefs, which depict important moments in the Archduke's life and the merits that were to guarantee him immortality in the memory of his followers. There are three scenes from the battlefields and a scene in which he takes over the rule of the lands of the Czech Crown from his father in 1547.
As it is known that the creator of the tombstone, Alexander Colin, also took into account the ideas and wishes of Archduke Ferdinand in his design, the reliefs can be considered a selection of the deeds that the client himself valued the most. However, the question remains whether it is through these merits that the Archduke really made European history, and what do we really value about this personality today? The biographical study summarizes important moments in Ferdinand's personal life, which included youth and joint upbringing with his older and government-determined brother Maximilian (II.), as well as the as yet unclear circumstances of a secret wedding in Bohemia with a burgher Philippine Welser and a later dynastic marriage Anna Katharina Gonzaga.
The study also focuses on his political and cultural role as the governor in the Czech lands, and finally on his activities as a sovereign ruler in Tyrol.