Centerpiece from Zwettl Monastery

The centerpiece was ordered on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the ordination of Abbot Rayner I. Kollmann of Zwettl Monastery. The ”whole dessert in three crates” was transported to Zwettl by carriage in May 1768 and presented to the Abbot at his jubilee celebration. For this occasion Joseph Haydn composed his “Applausus”, which may be related to the table centerpiece, as the female allegories of the virtues that appear on it also feature in Haydn’s composition as female voices.