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):

Daniel Fröschel as a Painter and Antiquarius at the Court of Rudolf II, in: N. Barbolani di Monauto, M. Ruffini, L. Sterpetti (eds.), The Medici beyond Florence. Art and Politics 1530–1648, Roma 2025, 245–268.

Diplomats and the Recreational Spaces of the Habsburgs in Prague: What Was There to See?, in: T. Černušák, J. Hrbek, Š. Vácha (eds.), Spaces for Diplomacy. Prague, the Court of Emperor Rudolf II (1576–1612) and Diplomats, De Gruyter Oldenburg 2025, 145–172.

The Amsterodam Dealer Hans Le Thoor at the Court of Emperor Rudolf II, Journal of the History of Collections, 39/3, 2023, 413–424.

& J. Skružná, A. Pokorná, L. Čermáková, Hortus siccus (1595) of Johann Brehe of Überlingen from the Broumov Benedictine monastery, Czech Republic, re-discovered, Archives of Natural History, 2, 49, 2022, 319–340.

& J. Hausenblasová (eds.), Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria: A Second-Born Son in Renaissance Europe, Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, Vienna 2021, 569 p.

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

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, Zahrady Rudolfa II. Jejich vznik a vývoj, Praha 2009, 349 pp.

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

Current projects:

Strategie AV21: The power of objects: Materiality between past and future (2025–2029)