Equestrian Portrait of the Emperor Maximilian I (1508): Artwork and History

Equestrian Portrait of the Emperor Maximilian I (1508) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Hans Burgkmair the Elder German, 1473-1531.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

This unique woodcut is printed in black and powdered gold inks on vellum. It may be the most opulent result of the Emperor Maximilian’s competition with Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony and his court artist, Lucas Cranach. That contest produced an early form of chiaroscuro printing, a technique using black line blocks and colored tone or blocks for lighting effects. Indeed, as the only known impression of the Equestrian Portrait printed in black and gold on vellum, the Chicago print may well be the dedication impression sent to Frederick.

Object facts

• Title: Equestrian Portrait of the Emperor Maximilian I
• Date: 1508
• Artist attribution: Hans Burgkmair the Elder German, 1473-1531
• Place of origin: Germany
• Medium: Woodcut from two blocks in black and gold on vellum
• Dimensions: Image: 31.8 × 22.5 cm (12 9/16 × 8 7/8 in.); Sheet: 32.3 × 23.5 cm (12 3/4 × 9 5/16 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1961.3

Collection credit

Clarence Buckingham Collection

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.