An online database for the 18th century collection of Karoline Luise von Baden has recently been launched. Assembled in the Karlsruhe Palace, which itself dates to 1715, the cabinet collection consisted of over 200 paintings and later formed the foundation of the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe.
The database includes the Melling Inventory as well as a section devoted to the complete correspondence between Karoline Luise von Baden and her network of agents and other actors of the art world. Notable contemporaries have a presence in the correspondence archives, including the Empress Maria Theresa, Voltaire, Madame de Pompadour, the art agent Eberts and the Comte de Vence.
The database was born out of a collaborative project between the Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe and the Università della Svizzera italiana. The project was financed by the VolkswagenStiftung Hannover.
For more information, contact Thorsten Huthwelker (thorsten.huthwelker@la-bw.de) and visit the database website: www.karoline-luise.la-bw.de