de chambre, the court having moved its seat to Prague, where he stayed until his death there in 1611, shortly before Rudolf was deposed. Spranger occupied a house just outside the castle walls. The artist developed a close personal relationship with Rudolf and the two spent many days together engaged in conversation. The emperor would regularly visit Spranger's studio. The emperor bestowed on Spranger the coat of arms of a liegeman in 1588 and granted him a hereditary title in 1595. In the meantime, Spranger supplied the emperor with a continuous stream of paintings of mythological scenes with nudes drawn from nature as well as propaganda pieces which extolled the virtues of Rudolf as a ruler. An example of a work combining the two elements of eroticism and propaganda is the Allegory of the virtues of Rudolf II (Kunsthistorisches Museum) which shows Bellona (the Roman goddess of war) sitting on a globe surrounded by Venus, Amor, Athene and Baccus and emblems symbolising Hungary and the Croatian river Sava. The propagandic message is that the empire is safe with Rudolf at the helm. Thanks to the emperor's patronage, Spranger became very wealthy and owned many properties by the time he died. Spranger married Christina Müller, the daughter of a rich jeweller from Prague in 1582. His wife died in 1600 after all their children had died. This sad story is depicted in Aegidius Sadeler's Portrait of Bartholomeus Spranger with an Allegory on the Death of his Wife. Work Spranger's paintings for Rudolf mostly depict mythological nudes in various complex poses, with some connection to the Emperor's esoteric Late-Renaissance philosophical ideas. His paintings are the most characteristic of the final phase of Northern Mannerism. By far the best collection is in Vienna. His drawings have great energy, in a very free technique. Spranger also worked as a sculptor. He may have acquired his knowledge of sculpture through his collaboration with the Flemish sculptor Hans Mont, who also worked at the Prague court. After Mont left the Prague court, Spranger appears to have worked intermittently as a sculptor for the emperor, at least until Adriaen de Vries arrived in Prague in 1601. A terracotta relief of the 'Body of Christ Supported by an Angel' (Courtauld Gallery) is by his hand. The Walters Museum holds a bronze 'Achelous and Deianeira' which is attributed to him. There is no record of any sculpture by Spranger