Mgr. Sylva Dobalová, Ph.D.

Researcher at the Department of Early Modern Art, head of the Studia Rudolphina centre.

Sylva Dobalová studied art history at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University (MA 2001) and art therapy at the Pedagogical Faculty, University of South Bohemia; in 2009, she received her Ph.D. from the Faculty of Arts, Czech Technical University. Between 2002 and 2003, she worked at the Education Department of the National Gallery Prague and since 2004, she has been employed with the IAH.  Dobalová focuses on Habsburg court art, particularly that of Rudolf II and the relationship of Central-European art to Italy. Her areas of interest also include Renaissance and Baroque gardens. She has twice received the Bader scholarship and the study and stay scholarship at HAB Wolfenbüttel. Between 2017 and 2019, she was the principal investigator of the GAČR grant project Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol (1529–1595) and his cultural patronage between Prague and Innsbruck and participated in the preparation of the exhibitions about Ferdinand II of Austria in Prague and Innsbruck.

Research outputs (selection):

Sylva Dobalová, The Great Ball Game Hall of Prague Castle: Its Appearance and Function in the Context of Habsburg Renaissance Ballcourts, RIHA Journal 0231, ISSN 2190-3328, 2 December 2019.

Blanka Kubíková – Jaroslava Hausenblasová – Sylva Dobalová (eds.), Arcivévoda Ferdinand II. Habsburský: Renesanční vladař a mecenáš mezi Prahou a Innsbruckem (exh. cat.), Národní galerie v Praze 2017 / in German: Ferdinand II. Erzherzog von Österreich aus dem Hause Habsburg. Renaissance-Herrscher und Mäzen zwischen Prag und Innsbruck, Prag 2017.

Ivan Muchka – Ivo Purš – Jaroslava Hausenblasová – Sylva Dobalová, The Star. Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria and his Summer Palace in Prague, Prague 2017.

Sylva Dobalová, La Barco of the Star Summer Palace in Prague: A Unique Example of Renaissance Landscape Design, in: Sylva Dobalová – Ivan Muchka (eds.), Looking for Leisure. Court Residences and their Satellites, 1400–1700, Prague 2017, pp. 257–273.

Sylva Dobalová, Barokní zahrady v Čechách, in: Petr Macek – Richard Biegel – Jakub Bachtík (eds.), Barokní architektura v Čechách, Praha 2015, pp. 677–701.

Sylva Dobalová, Einheimische und exotische Tiere im Prag der Renaissance / Indigenous and Exotic Animals in Renaissance Prague, in: Sabine Haag (ed.), Echt tierisch! Die Menagerie des Fürsten (exh. cat.), Schloss Ambras Innsbruck 2015, pp. 37–47.

Sylva Dobalová, Die Zitruskultur am Prager Hof unter Ferdinand I., Maximilian II. und Rudolf II., in: Orangeriekultur in Österreich, Ungarn und Tschechien [Orangeriekultur. Schriftenreihedes Arbeitskreises Orangerien in Deutschland e. V., Band 10], Berlin 2014, pp. 113–126.

Sylva Dobalová, Zahrady Rudolfa II. Jejich vznik a vývoj, Praha 2009.

Sylva Dobalová, Pašijový cyklus Karla Škréty: mezi výtvarnou tradicí a jezuitskou spiritualitou, Praha 2004.

Current projects:

Art for Display: The Painting collection of Emperor Rudolf II within the context of collecting practices circa 1600 (GAČR, 20-15927S) - co-investigator

Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol (1529–1595) and his cultural patronage between Prague and Innsbruck (editor of publication: Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria: a Second-Born Son in Renaissance Europe, Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, Vienna 2021)