EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN I (1459-1519) AND THE ART OF HIS TIME

The Albertina owns many of the most important works produced for Maximilian’s public relations machinery by the greatest artists of his day, such as Albrecht Dürer. They include the Triumphal Procession, the most intellectually ambitious of all the projects commissioned to perpetuate the emperor’s memory. Its centrepiece is a series of vividly coloured scenes, measuring some 45 metres in length, which were painted in bodycolour on parchment by Albrecht Altdorfer and his workshop in Regensburg.

Although 19th-century historians dubbed Maximilian the "Last Knight", in fact he spearheaded a revival of chivalry throughout Europe, which manifested itself in increasingly lavish jousting tournaments and elaborate arms and armour. One of the focal points of the exhibition is the depiction of this fascinating aspect of Maximilian’s era in works drawn from the Albertina’s holdings, supplemented by major loans from museums abroad.

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