Albrecht Dürer, Emperor Maximilian I, 1518. Black and coloured chalk, heightened with white chalk. Albertina, Vienna

VIENNA.- Emperor Maximilian I was a "media emperor", who spared no efforts for the representation of his person and to secure his posthumous fame. He employed the best artists and made use of the most modern media of his time. Many of the most outstanding works produced for the propaganda and commemoration of Emperor Maximilian I are preserved in the Albertina. These include not only numerous works by Albrecht Dürer, but also Albrecht Altdorfer’s Triumphal Procession – a work in gouache on parchment the artist and his workshop executed for Maximilian – which will be in the focus of our exhibition.

Albrecht Altdorfer, "The German Princes" from the "Triumphal Procession of Emperor Maximilian I", c. 1512-1515. Pen and brown ink, watercolour and bodycolour, heightened with gold, on vellum. Albertina, ViennaAlbertina, Vienna 

Besides Maximilian's tomb at the Hofkirche in Innsbruck and the monumental Triumphal Arch, the Triumphal Procession is the largest and most important of his commissions: following the model of ancient triumphal processions, it presents musicians, hunters, banner carriers, artillery, magnificent imperial carriages, soldiers, knights and princes, statues of Maximilian’s Habsburg ancestors, his wedding to Mary of Burgundy and his wars. The Triumphal Procession thus reflects the most important persons and events of Maximilian’s life and, like the other major projects, was intended to serve his eternal memory and the glory of the House of Habsburg.

This work was once composed of 109 large-sized sheets, out of which numbers 49 to 109, as well as the author’s sheet, have survived and all of which still show their original brilliant colours; put together, these body-colour paintings amount to more than fifty metres in length. They were last presented publicly in 1959 on the occasion of the Albertina’s exhibition honouring the 500th anniversary of Maximilian’s birthday – reason enough to not only present them again in their entirety and on a large scale, but also to reassess them from a scientific point of view. 

Hans Burgkmair the Elder, Emperor Maximilian on Horseback, 1518. Woodcut printed from black line block and greyish brown tone block. Albertina, Vienna

Albrecht Dürer, View of Innsbruck from the North, c. 1496. Watercolour, bodycolour, heightened with white. Albertina, Vienna

Albrecht Altdorfer, "The Emperor’s Coach" from the "Triumphal Procession of Emperor Maximilian I", c. 1512-1515. Pen and brown ink, watercolour and bodycolour, heightened with gold, on vellum. Albertina, Vienna

Albrecht Altdorfer and workshop. "The Swiss War and The Neapolitan War" from the "Triumphal Procession of Emperor Maximilian I", c. 1512-1515. Pen and brown ink, watercolour and bodycolour, heightened with gold, on vellum. Albertina, Vienna

Albrecht Altdorfer and workshop. "The Great Venetian War" from the "Triumphal Procession of Emperor Maximilian I", c. 1512-1515. Pen and brown ink, watercolour and bodycolour, heightened with gold, on vellum. Albertina, Vienna

Albrecht Altdorfer and workshop. "The Ancestors of Emperor Maximilian" from the "Triumphal Procession of Emperor Maximilian I", c. 1512-1515. Pen and brown ink, watercolour and bodycolour, heightened with gold, on vellum. Albertina, Vienna

Albrecht Altdorfer and workshop. "Baggage Train" from the "Triumphal Procession of Emperor Maximilian I", c. 1512-1515. Pen and brown ink, watercolour and bodycolour, heightened with gold, on vellum. Albertina, Vienna

Bernhard Strigel. The Family of Maximilian I, 1515-1520. Painting on limewood. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

 Albrecht Dürer. Soldier on Horseback, 1498. Pen and brown ink, watercolour. Albertina, Vienna

 Albrecht Dürer. Helmet Visor (Design for a silver harness for Emperor Maximilian I), c. 1515/16. Pen and brown ink. Albertina, Vienna

 Albrecht Dürer. The Italian Trophy (Design for the "Triumphal Procession of Emperor Maximilian I"), 1518. Pen and black ink. Albertina, Vienna

 Albrecht Dürer, Hand Holding a Pomegranate  (Study for the "Portrait of Emperor Maximilian I"), 1519 (?). Black chalk. Albertina, Vienna

 Albrecht Dürer, Knight, Death and the Devil, 1513. Copper engraving. Albertina, Vienna

 Hans Burgkmair the Elder. The Triumphal Procession of Emperor Maximilian I, 1796. Woodcut. Albertina, Vienna

 Hans Burgkmair the Elder, Saint George, 1518. Woodcut. Albertina, Vienna

 Albrecht Dürer. Portrait of Emperor Maximilian I, c. 1519. Woodcut. Albertina, Vienna

 Hunting crossbow of Maximilian I, Spain (Aragón) and Innsbruck, 1508-1519. Steel, wood, bone, hemp. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Collection of Arms and Armour

 Ceremonial sword and scabbard owned by Emperor Maximilian I, 1494. Gilded bronze, walnut, mother of pearl, horn, leather. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Collection of Arms and Armour

 Monogrammist A.A., Death Portrait of Emperor Maximilian I, 1519. Tempera on paper, mounted on a wooden frame. Steiermärkisches Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz

 Brussels, between 1499 and 1510. The Pictorial Rug of Dr. Johannes Fuchsmagen, Tapestry. Heiligenkreuz Abbey

 Widerholt-Pokal, Nürnberg (?), 1510. Silber vergoldet, Emaille. Städtisches Museum im Kornhaus, Kirchheim unter Teck

 Bernard van Orley, Archduchess Margaret of Austria as a Widow. Oak. Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

 Coloured replica of a relief from the Golden Roof: Maximilian and His Wives Bianca Maria Sforza and Mary of Burgundy. Tiroler Landesmuseen Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck.