When Maximilian of Austria (1459-1519) was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1508, he became ruler in name of vast territories. However, in practice he lacked the power and money to govern them. He used woodcuts to project his image abroad and to impress future generations.

This large woodcut is based on a portrait that Dürer drew of Maximilian from life in June 1518. The drawing is now in the Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna.

On the scroll above the head, Dürer has added the titles of an ancient Roman emperor in Roman lettering (compare the 'black letter' or Gothic script of the printer's name below). Maximilian wears the Order of the Golden Fleece over a richly brocaded cloak trimmed with pearls. These items of dress are scarcely indicated in the original drawing.

Maximilian's highly individual features, shown in a three-quarter view, closely follow the drawing. But the sensitive lines that model the hollows around his eyes, his mouth and the folds of his cheek are quite different. Dürer used his life drawing as a reference, but for the print he created a new range of lines to describe the features of the face that was appropriate to the woodcut technique.

Presented by subscribers through the National Art Collections Fund

Further Reading/Sources:
PD 1928-10-13-1 (Bartsch 154, CD I ) Department of Prints and Drawings

G. Bartrum, German Renaissance prints, 1490-1550, exh. cat. (London, The British Museum Press, 1995), p. 56, no. 41

D. Landau and P. Parshall, The Renaissance print 1470-1550 (New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1994), p. 206-11

G. Bartrum (ed.), Albrecht Dürer and his legacy: the graphic work of a Renaissance artist (London and N.J., The British Museum Press and Princeton University Press, 2002), no. 267