Ferdinand Storffer: The Black Cabinet from the painted inventory of the Imperial Collections in Vienna, c. 1730

Storffer’s pictorial inventory of the imperial collections, c. 1730

1720–1733

Ferdinand Storffer was commissioned by Emperor Charles VI to execute a pictorial record of the imperial collections in Vienna. The Newly Arranged Inventory of the Imperial Paintings Gallery in the Stallburg appeared in three volumes from 1720 to 1733. The individual folii show sections of the elaborate panelling into which the paintings and statues were fitted. A number of paintings were cut down or altered in shape for this purpose.

Ferdinand Storffer: The Black Cabinet from the painted inventory of the Imperial Collections in Vienna, c. 1730