The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 24, 2022

Equestrian Portrait of the Emperor Maximilian

1508

Hans Burgkmair

(German, 1473-1531)

Germany, 16th century

Woodcut, in black and white on paper washed blue

Support: Laid paper prepared with blue watercolor

Sheet: 32.3 x 22.7 cm (12 11/16 x 8 15/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1950.72

Catalogue raisonné: Hollstein V.108.323

State: ic./vii

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Known as "the last knight," Maximilian was an enthusiast of tournaments and hunting; here he wears the type of fluted armor that later would be named for him.

Description

Presented in full profile, the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (reigned 1486–1519) and his mount emulate a classical equestrian portrait statue. The Latin abbreviations inscribed at the top of the page describe him as “August Emperor Caesar Maximilian,” a title conceptually equating him with the leaders of the ancient Roman Empire. The two-headed eagle on the banner is the emblem of his dynastic family, the Hapsburgs. This exceptionally rare chiaroscuro woodcut— printed with black and white inks on paper prepared with tinted wash—represents one of the earliest experiments with this technique. Of the two surviving impressions printed on hand-colored paper, this is the only one that is blue.

Inscriptions

Inscription

upper center, in block: . IMP·CAES·MAXIMIL·AUG· ; lower right, in block: 1508 ; lower right, in block: ·H·BURGKMAIR

Citations
Dackerman, Susan. Painted Prints: The Revelation of Color in Northern Renaissance & Baroque Engravings, Etchings & Woodcuts. University Park, Pa: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002. exh. cat. no. 12b, p.117, 119
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 650 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 109 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 109 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 127 archive.org
"1992 Annual Report." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 6 (1993): 215-95. Mentioned: p. 247 www.jstor.org
Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 350
Fowler, Caroline O. "The Currency of Prints and Drawings in the Sixteenth Century." IN Jenseits des disegno: die Entstehung selbstständiger Zeichnungen in Deutschland und Italien im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert. Bohde, D., et. al. Petersberg : Michael Imhof Verlag, 2018. Reproduced and mentioned: pp. 148-149, fig. 3
Bohde, Daniela, Alessandro Nova, and Anna Christina Schütz. Jenseits des disegno: die Entstehung selbstständiger Zeichnungen in Deutschland und Italien im 15. und 16. Jh. 2018. p. 149–51
Exhibition history

35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).

Prints 1400-1800. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 18, 1956-January 10, 1957); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (February 1-March 3, 1957); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (November 1-December 1, 1957).

Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959).

Prints and Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 6-September 9, 1965).

Juxtapositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art (September 11-October 10, 1965).

Old Master Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 29, 1966-April 1, 1967).

Hans Burgkmair Woodcuts. Staatsgalerie in der Katharinenkirche Augsburg, 86150 Augsburg, Germany (organizer) (May 19-July 29, 1973); Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, D-70184 Stuttgart, Germany (July 29-October 14, 1973).

Paper in Prints. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (organizer) (April 28-July 31, 1977).

Printing in Color. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-November 17, 1985).

Albrecht Dürer and His Influence. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 16-March 10, 1991).

Chiaroscuro Woodcuts: Hendrick Goltzius and His Time. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (organizer) (November 14, 1992-January 10, 1993); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 9-April 11, 1993).

Painted Prints: The Revelation of Color in Northern Renaissance and Baroque Etchings, Engravings, and Woodcuts. The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (October 6, 2002-January 5, 2003); Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (February 14-May 18, 2003).

Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 17-November 9, 2003).

Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 9-June 8, 2014).

Gods and Heroes: Ancient Legends in Renaissance Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 26-December 31, 2017).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1950.72