the Younger as keeper of his collection, spending immense sums on works by Frans Snyders, Peter Snayers, Daniel Seghers, Peter Franchoys, Frans Wouters, Jan van den Hoecke, Pieter Thijs, Jan van de Venne and others. He also acquired a number of Italian masters, purchased from the sale of collections owned by Bartolomeo della Nave and Charles I. His most prized pieces engraved in the book Theatrum Pictorium, which is often called the first "art catalogue". When the tomb of Childeric I, an early Merovingian king, was discovered in 1653 by a mason doing repairs in the church of Saint-Brice in Tournai, it was Leopold Wilhelm who had the find published in Latin. On his return to Vienna in 1656, his collection relocated to the Hofburg Palace, where Jan Anton van der Baren, a Flemish priest and artist, served as director. The collection was bequeathed to his nephew Leopold I, and is now part of the collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. He played an active role in court politics and was close to his stepmother, Eleonora of Mantua (1598-1655), who shared his interest in Italian art and was a prominent supporter of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Although suggested as a candidate to replace Ferdinand as Holy Roman Emperor in 1657, he ensured his nephew Leopold I was elected when he reached 18 in July 1658. Ancestors References Sources (See index, v. 1, for more information on Leopold Wilhelm's patronage) External links 1614 births 1662 deaths 17th-century House of Habsburg 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire Austrian princes Bishops of Strasbourg Field marshals of the Holy Roman Empire Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order People from Wiener Neustadt Prince-Bishops of Breslau Roman Catholic Prince-Archbishops of Bremen Roman Catholic Prince-Bishops of Halberstadt Military personnel of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) Burials at the Imperial Crypt Burials at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna Sons of emperors Sons of kings