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A stepped, ornately decorated structure made up of forty-four individual woodcuts and etchings printed with black ink on ivory-white paper fills this vertical composition. The structure has a tall central tower flanked by two shorter towers on each side. All three have an arched opening at the bottom. The outer towers are then flanked by three columns. Almost every inch of the structure is densely covered with architectural ornaments, coats of arms, Gothic text, and panels showing scenes with people in interiors or huge crowds in landscapes. Some scenes show soldiers engaged in battle, groups of kings and clergy, or individual men. Architectural ornament includes mythical creatures, gargoyles, saints, kings, and cherubs. The arched openings are tall and narrow, and have checkered floors. Words in elaborate Latin script appear inside the top of each of the three arches. Two ringed-tailed creatures resembling monkeys prowl outside the central arch. Two shallow steps lead down from the structure to five panels that line the base of the composition. Those five panels are filled with Gothic text. The date, "1515," appears at the base of the outermost column to each side.

Albrecht Dürer

The Triumphal Arch of Maximilian, 1515 (1799 edition)

Not on View

Medium

42 woodcuts and 2 etchings on laid paper assembled to form one image

Dimensions

overall size: 354 x 298.5 cm (139 3/8 x 117 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of David P. Tunick and Elizabeth S. Tunick, in honor of the appointment of Andrew Robison as Andrew W. Mellon Senior Curator

Catalogue Raisonné

Meder, no. 251

Accession Number

1991.200.1

Artists / Makers

Albrecht Dürer (artist) German, 1471 - 1528

Wolf Traut (artist) German, c. 1486 - 1520

Hans Springinklee (artist) German, active 1512/1522

Albrecht Altdorfer (artist) German, 1480 or before - 1538

Jorg Kölderer (artist after) German, active 1497 - 1540

Adam von Bartsch (artist) Austrian, 1757 - 1821

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Inscription

lower left and lower right in block: 1515

Provenance

David Tunick, New York, NY; gift 1991, to NGA.

Associated Names

Tunick, David, Mr. and Mrs.

Exhibition History

1992: Dürer to Diebenkorn: Recent Acquisitions of Art of Paper, NGA., 1992, no. 4.

1998: Anselm Kiefer: Works on Paper in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1998-99, fig. no. 44.

2008: Grand Scale: Monumental Prints in the Age of Dürer and Titian, Philadelphia Museum of Art and Yale University Art Gallery venues, 2008-2009, no. 20.

2009: The Art of Power: Royal Armor and Portraits from Imperial Spain, NGA, 2009, no. 8, repro.

2019: The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2019-2020, no. 165.

Bibliography

1932: Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog; ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna: Verlag Gilhofer und Ranschburg, 1932. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.

1998: Rosenthal, Nan. Anselm Kiefer: Works on Paper in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1998: 120, fig. 44.

2001: Schoch, Rainer, Mattihas Mende, and Anna Scherbaum. Albrecht Dürer: Das druckgraphische Werk. Munich, 2001: vol. 2: no. 238.