Maximilian as Founder and Protector of the Order of St. George; and Maximilian and the Knights of St. George Vowing a Crusade Against the Turks; with Portraits of Emperors and Kings (Maximilian's Forerunners), from the Arch of Honor, proof, dated 1515, printed 1517-18
Medium
Woodcut and letterpress
Dimensions
Sheet: 18 3/8 × 24 9/16 in. (46.7 × 62.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928
Accession Number
28.82.27
Art Historical Context
This monumental woodcut sheet, a proof from Albrecht Dürer's *Triumphal Arch* ( *Arch of Honor*), celebrates Roman Emperor Maximilian I the founder and protector of the Order St. George. Dated 1515 and printed around 1517–18, it vividly depicts Maximilian and his knights vowing a crusade against the Turks, flanked by portraits of his imperial forebears. Created collaboratively by Northern Renaissance masters—Albrecht Dürer, Albrechttdorfer, Hansinklee, Hieronym Andreae, and Wolfut—this work exemplifies the era's intricate woodcut technique, blending fine-line engraving on wood blocks with lett...
About the Artist
Albrecht Altdorfer|Hans Springinklee|Albrecht Dürer|Hieronymus Andreae|Wolf Traut · 1475–1538
Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480–1538) was a German painter, printmaker, and draftsman who stands as one of the founders of landscape painting as an independent genre. Born in Regensburg or nearby Altdorf, he learned art from his father Ulrich, a painter and miniaturist. Altdorfer spent most of his life in Regensburg, becoming a citizen in 1505 and later serving as the city's official architect and a m...