The Triumphal Arch of Maximilian I: Emperor Maximilian as Patron of Improvements in Artillery and Armor (1515–17): Art, History and Details

The Triumphal Arch of Maximilian I: Emperor Maximilian as Patron of Improvements in Artillery and Armor (1515–17) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Wolf Traut (German, c. 1486–1520).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Dressed in a full suit of armor, Maximilian (reigned 1486– 1519) stands among an array of helmets and weaponry. He holds a sword in one hand and a cannonball in the other, indicating both knightly skill and military power. A large sack of coins behind him alludes to his financial support of the engineers and craftsmen dedicated to the industry of war. Similar suits of armor in the Maximilian style are on view in the museum’s arms and armor court, including Maximilian’s personal suit of jousting armor. Traut created this woodcut for a monumental triumphal arch, printed with 195 woodblocks prepared by a team of printmakers. The emperor commissioned the massive print—almost 12 feet tall when assembled— to commemorate his gentility, generosity, and military conquests.

Object facts

• Title: The Triumphal Arch of Maximilian I: Emperor Maximilian as Patron of Improvements in Artillery and Armor
• Date: 1515–17
• Creator attribution: Wolf Traut (German, c. 1486–1520)
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Print
• Technique: woodcut
• Collection: PR - Woodcut
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1925.466

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. S. Prentiss Baldwin

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Prints and Armor." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 12, no. 6, (July 1925): 124-127

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.