The two successive Mantua-born empresses Eleonora Gonzaga (1598–1655) and Eleonora Gonzaga-Nevers (1630–1686) left a significant imprint on their times, not only in terms of the extension of intercultural relations between Italy and Austria, but also in terms of imperial policies and behaviour at an international level. The important interdisciplinary collection under review, edited by Katrin Keller and Matthias Schnettger, explores the careers and contexts of the two empresses, drawing particular attention to the themes of power, gender and female agency.

After a wide-ranging introduction bringing into focus the research project as well as the richness of the material at hand, the first section is devoted to »The Empresses In Context«. Here, a paper by Hannes Alterauge covers the earnest but thwarted efforts by Eleonora Gonzaga to find a favorable diplomatic conclusion to the succession crisis opened by the death of her brother, Vincenzo II Duke of Mantua and Monferrato, amid the contrasting interests of France and Spain. In the same period, Maria Gonzaga, the mother of future empress Eleonora Gonzaga-Nevers, ruled as regent of Mantua during the minority of her son Carlo II. A chapter by Alice Raviola explores the challenges in the aftermath of the succession war.

Luca Morselli then draws attention to the intricate and ultimately successful political and diplomatic manoeuvring undertaken by Eleonora Gonzaga-Nevers to procure the marriage of her nephew, Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga-Nevers, tenth and last duke of Mantova, to Anna Isabella Gonzaga, elder child of the duke of Guastalla, Ferrante III. Katrin Keller explores relations between the dowager empress Eleonora Gonzaga-Nevers and her daughter-in-law, Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg, married to Emperor Leopold I, as revealed in newly discovered documents in the Bavarian State Archives in Munich, including insights about intercultural issues regarding protocol, ceremonial, and other interests involving the various protagonists. Andrea Isabella Basile’s chapter studies relations between the courts of Mantua and Vienna as evidenced in the Cavriani papers at the Mantua state archives, with particular attention to comments by Eleonora Gonzaga regarding the inheritance dispute following the death of baron Ottavio Cavriani.

Claudia Curcuruto’s chapter highlights the connection between empress dowager Eleonora Gonzaga-Nevers and the papal court, as mediated by Francesco Buonvisi, a diplomat within the Viennese nunciature. The evidence reveals the strong ties between Rome and Vienna regarding many matters connected with obtaining the necessary graces, absolutions and dispensations as well as interventions for resolving conflicts. Matthias Schnettger takes a new look at the well-known Italian influences within the Viennese court in this period, first noting the numerous individuals of Italian origin present there in this period, then documenting the use of the Italian language.

The last chapters belong to a section on »Transfer Processes«, covering cultural influences through the visual and performing arts. Among these, Klaus Pietschmann’s chapter discusses music for the wedding of Emperor Ferdinand II and Eleonora Gonzaga in 1622, especially the motet »Augustum thalamum«, composed by Giovanni Priuli, attested here to have been among the last of the genre, although the music itself is lost. Marko Deisinger explores the origins of the Oratorio as a musical form, tracing the early development within the movement of S. Filippo Neri in Rome, followed by a rapid spread to Vienna and finally to other parts of Italy. Leonardo Mancini suggests a new appreciation of the theatrical productivity of the multidisciplinary court writer and technician Gabriele Bertazzolo, paying due attention to works that have been little studied. Andrea Sommer-Mathis surveys the remarkably rich court entertainments in Vienna, especially under the elder Eleonora, including the introduction of lyric opera, newly invented in Italy, and the invitation given to the commedia dell’arte company of Giovanni Battista Andreini to perform at court. Marion Romberg, drawing on a sample of over 200 visual representations of the two Gonzaga empresses, considers the conclusions that might be drawn about how a tradition-bound dynastic scheme engaged with a rapidly changing visual media environment.

Adopting a more qualitative approach to the visual material, Paolo Bertelli notes especially the preference of the elder Eleonora for Italian and Italianate painters, in contrast to the younger Eleonora’s preference for the Flemish painter Frans Luycx, just when northern European dynasties began to look beyond Italy for suitable artists. Cecilia Mazzetti di Pietralata, introducing the theme of a specifically Roman influence on the visual arts in Vienna, especially through the presence of the Flemish artist Sandrart, also draws attention to the little-studied amateur artistry of Eleonora Gonzaga-Nevers herself, whose paintings are now lost, but whose influence may have helped bring mezzotint printmaking technique to Italy. Finally, Herbert Karner’s chapter turns attention to the modifications made in this period on the various imperial residences and the two empresses’ roles – in the case of the elder Eleonora, for instance, introducing larger spaces at the Alteburg for social occasions, and in the case of the younger Eleonora, having a theatre constructed in the Amalienburg, and much else.

Overall, the innovative approach, and the research questions posed, offer a fine example for further work on the chosen periods, places and personages.