Maximilian Willibald of Waldburg-Wolfegg

In 1648 Maximilian Willibald married for the second time. His new wife was the Belgian Countess Clara Isabella of Arenberg, who possessed a keen interest in art. Their wedding celebrations saw the performance of armamentarium comicum amoris et honoris by Bartholomäus Aich, which is considered to be one of the oldest German operatic compositions. Maximilian Willibald himself was well educated in the liberal arts and spoke aside from his native German and French, Italian and Latin as well. A chronicle of the house of Waldburg-Wolfegg from 1785 describes him as a "great lover of the secret and natural sciences like medicine, chemistry and alchemy" who has a keen interest in "all witty writings, poems and similar things in all known languages". • Illustration — Portrait of Clara Isabella of Arenberg From 1650 onwards Maximilian Willibald began to collect art systematically with a particular interest for graphics. He assembled a rather large collection over the years, in 1654 alone he acquired around 34,000 graphics from the inheritance of the Fugger family. At the time of his death his collection comprised over 120,000 graphics among them such famous pieces as the Kleiner Klebeband and the Mittelalterliches Hausbuch. In his will Maximilian Willibald ordained that his art collection was to kept as one and not to split over several heirs, therefore it remained virtually unchanged for the next 300 years. Also in his will he founded the Loreto Chapel in Wolfegg.

The authorities additionally record the heading Maximilian Willibald, Graf von Waldburg zu Wolfegg. His recorded language was German. He was the child of Heinrich von Waldburg-Wolfegg and Marie Jakobe, Gräfin von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. He married Clara Isabella von Arenberg. 2 children are recorded: Maximiliano Francisco de Waldburg-Wolfegg and Johann von Waldburg-Wolfegg-Waldsee.