The ''Triumphal Arch'' (also known as the ''Arch of Maximilian I'', german: Ehrenpforte Maximilians I.) is a 16th-century monumental

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...

print commissioned by the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

Maximilian I. The composite image was printed on 36 large sheets of paper from 195 separate wood blocks. At , it is one of the largest

prints In molecular biology, the PRINTS database is a collection of so-called "fingerprints": it provides both a detailed annotation resource for protein families, and a diagnostic tool for newly determined sequences. A fingerprint is a group of conserved ...

ever produced and was intended to be pasted to walls in city halls or the palaces of princes.Bartrum, (1995), 51 It is a part of a series of three huge prints created for Maximilian, the others being a '' Triumphal Procession'' (1516–18, 137 woodcut panels, long) which is led by a ''

Large Triumphal Carriage The ''Large Triumphal Carriage'' or ''Great Triumphal Car'' (in German, ''Triumphwagen'') is a large 16th-century woodcut print by Albrecht Dürer, commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. The work was originally intended to be the ...

'' (1522, 8 woodcut panels, ); only the ''Arch'' was completed in Maximilian's lifetime and distributed as propaganda, as he intended. Together, this series has been described by art historian Hyatt Mayor as "Maximilian's program of paper grandeur". They stand alongside two published biographical allegories in verse, the ' and ', heavily illustrated with woodcuts. Very large multi-sheet prints designed to decorate walls were a feature of the early 16th century, although their use in this way means their survival rate is exceptionally low. The prints were intended to be hand-colored, but only two sets of impressions from the first edition survive with contemporary coloring (held in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Design and execution

The architectural form of the arch was designed by Tyrolean architect and court painter Jörg Kölderer, and elaborated by Maximilian's court historian and mathematician

Johannes Stabius Johannes Stabius (Johann Stab) (1450–1522) was an Austrian cartographer and astronomer of Vienna who developed, around 1500, the heart-shape (cordiform) projection map later developed further by Johannes Werner. It is called the '' Werner map p ...

, modelled on the

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, cr ...

es constructed by Roman Emperors in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...

(although Maximilian's arch was never intended to be constructed in stone). It may have been inspired by a six-panel woodcut ''

View of Venice ''View of Venice'', also known as the de' Barbari Map, is a monumental woodcut print showing a bird's-eye view of the city of Venice from the southwest. It bears the title and date "VENETIE MD" ("Venice 1500"). It was printed from six wooden ...

'', a

bird's-eye view A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object or location from a very steep viewing angle, creating a perspective as if the observer were a bird in flight looking downwards. Bird's-eye views can be an aerial photograph, but also a d ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

publisher Anton Kolb, both of whom entered the employ of Maximilian from about 1500. Detailed drawings for the woodcuts were created between 1512 and 1515, mainly by

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

and his pupils,

Hans Springinklee Hans Springinklee (c.1490/c.1495 – c.1540) was a German artist from Nuremberg, best known for his woodcuts.British Museum bio, see refs below. He was a pupil of Albrecht Dürer. Life Little written evidence remains of Springinklee's life ...

and Wolf Traut; the flanking round towers are attributed to

Albrecht Altdorfer Albrecht Altdorfer (12 February 1538) was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg, Bavaria. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main representative of the Danube S ...

.Bartrum, (1995), 51 The design includes three arches: the central arch is entitled "Honour and Might", the left arch is "Praise", and the right arch is "Nobility". Each arch is illustrated with scenes relating to Maximilian, including a

family tree A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms. Representations ...

above the central arch which leads back to

Clovis I Clovis ( la, Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single ki ...

, first

King of the Franks The Franks, Germanic-speaking peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, were first led by individuals called dukes and reguli. The earliest group of Franks that rose to prominence was the Salian Merovingians, who c ...

, and then the mythical

Francia Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks du ...

Sicambri The Sicambri, also known as the Sugambri or Sicambrians, were a Germanic people who during Roman times lived on the east bank of the river Rhine, in what is now Germany, near the border with the Netherlands. They were first reported by Julius C ...

a and Troia, flanked by

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

escutcheons, and 12 historical scenes above each of the two side arches. To the left are busts of emperors and kings, including

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

and

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

, and to the right are Maximilian's ancestors. Towers to each side show scenes from Maximilian's private life. Towards the lower right is a line of three shields showing the coats of arms of Stabius, Kölderer and Dürer. Many panels contain a descriptive text, and a long inscription at the bottom describes the whole. The design includes elements of Egyptian hieroglyphs, influenced by

Willibald Pirckheimer Willibald Pirckheimer (5 December 1470 – 22 December 1530) was a German Renaissance lawyer, author and Renaissance humanist, a wealthy and prominent figure in Nuremberg in the 16th century, imperial counsellor and a member of the governing City ...

's 1514 translation of the ''Hieroglyphica'' by Roman author Horapollo.

Patron

Dürer - Selbstbildnis im Pelzrock - Alte Pinakothek

Emperor Maximilian, as patron of the ''Triumphal Arch'', commissioned this almost twelve-foot-tall print. He wanted to commemorate his military conquests, generosity, and nobility. The Triumphal Arch, along with the ''Triumphal Procession'' and ''Large Triumphal Carriage'', is one of three very large prints representing Emperor Maximilian I’s triumphs. The illustrations, designed between 1516 and 1518, were largely the work of Hans Burgkmair (German, Augsburg 1473–1531 Augsburg), with contributions by

(German, Regensburg ca. 1480–1538 Regensburg),

(German, ca. 1495–after 1522),

(German, Nuremberg 1471–1528 Nuremberg),

Leonhard Beck Leonhard Beck (c. 1480 – 1542) was a painter and designer of woodcuts in Augsburg, Germany. He was the son of Georg Beck, who was active as a miniaturist in Augsburg c. 1490-1512/15. He worked with his father on two Psalters for the Augsburg m ...

(German, 1480–1542), and Hans Schäufelen (German, Nuremberg ca. 1480–ca. 1540 Nördlingen). Only the Triumphal Arch was completed before Maximilian's death in 1519. It reflects Maximilian's position as Holy Roman Emperor and links him to the

es and triumphs of

, a painter, draftsman, and writer, known for his highly elaborate woodcuts designed 192 of the woodblocks. Albrecht Dürer's ambition, talent, and wide-ranged intellect earned him the recognition of some of the most prominent figures like Maximilian I (and successor

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

). Dürer apprenticed with his father (a goldsmith) and

Michael Wolgemut Michael Wolgemut (formerly spelt ''Wohlgemuth''; 143430 November 1519) was a German painter and printmaker, who ran a workshop in Nuremberg. He is best known as having taught the young Albrecht Dürer. The importance of Wolgemut as an artist rests ...

(a painter), who produced woodcuts for written text and publications. Emperor Maximilian I recognized Dürer's creativity and that his success was only going to increase, making him an appropriate choice for such an important project.

Historical context

The earliest and most imposing uses of the triumphal arch motif in Renaissance art begun in 1462 with

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. H ...

’s Basilica of Sant’Andrea in Mantua. In Imperial Rome, triumphal arches were a common way to honor the emperors. In later centuries, triumphal arches inspired imitations worldwide like

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...

and Arc du Carrousel in Paris, the Wellington Arch and

Marble Arch The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London, England. The structure was designed by John Nash in 1827 to be the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near the site of what is toda ...

in London, and the Siegestor in Munich. Freestanding Roman arches also serve as design resources in the Renaissance and later. Primary models either have single-arch or triple-arch form with inscription panels. The ''Triumphal Arch'' was one of the largest prints ever produced (295 × 357 centimeters or 116 × 141 in) and was intended to be distributed as propaganda and to be put on display in magnificent public areas. The pictorial composition of multiple scenes was established by

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in orde ...

. This technique became the standard for architrave-like designs that depicted triumphs and battles. The display history of this monumental print demonstrates that Maximilian recognized the potential of woodcuts as a vehicle for conversations about politics. Wall mounting consisted of sealing wax, tacks, or direct adhesion, similar to 15th- and 16th-century paintings. All of the prints for Emperor Maximillian I were intended to be hand-colored. Still, only two sets of the impressions from the first edition were able to survive throughout centuries.

Iconography and design elements

The design includes three arches: the central arch is entitled "Honour and Might", the left arch is "Praise", and the right arch is "Nobility". Each arch is illustrated with scenes relating to Maximilian, including a

above the central arch which leads back to

, first

, and then the mythical

a and Troia, flanked by

escutcheons, and 12 historical scenes above each of the two side arches. Above the center arch, are events that represent Maximilian's past life. Jörg Kölderer, architect and painter, designed the individual scenes. He distributed some of the work to

, Wolf Traut, and

. To the left are busts of emperors and kings, including

and

, and to the right are Maximilian's ancestors. Towers to each side show scenes from Maximilian's private life. Towards the lower right is a line of three shields showing the coats of arms of Stabius, Kölderer, and Dürer. Many panels contain a descriptive text, and a long inscription at the bottom describes the whole. The design includes elements of Egyptian hieroglyphs, influenced by

's 1514 translation of the ''Hieroglyphica'' by Roman author Horapollo.

Execution

The print is dated 1515 on two blocks, indicating when the designs were completed (save for the 24th historical block – intended to show Maximilian's tomb – which remained blank). The print was given by Maximilian as gifts, mostly to the cities and princes of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

. The ''Triumphal Arch'' is three meters high, made of 195 woodblocks. Durer worked on the middle gateway (not including the genealogical tree, coats of arms, and cupola), middle columns with ornamental statues, ornamental portions, round tower scene, the historical scenes (2nd, 15th, 22nd, and 23rd), three figures in the genealogical tree, and the busts of six emperors. The cutting of woodblocks was completed between 1515 and 1517 by Hieronymus Andreae (Resch) of Nuremberg. His signature is included on the back of the blocks at Vienna. There were about seven hundred sets of prints in the first edition of 1517-1518. The architectural form of the arch was designed by Tyrolean architect and court painter Jörg Kölderer, and elaborated by Maximilian's court historian and mathematician

, modelled on the

es constructed by Roman Emperors in

(although Maximilian's arch was never intended to be constructed in stone). It may have been inspired by a six-panel woodcut ''

'', a

publisher Anton Kolb, both of whom entered the employ of Maximilian from about 1500.

Distribution

Examples of the first edition include those in the

print room A print room is a room in an art gallery or museum where a collection of old master and modern prints, usually together with drawings, watercolours, and photographs, are held and viewed. A further meaning is a room decorated by pasting prints ...

s at the British Museum, the

Albertina The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and museums in Berlin,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

, Prague, and elsewhere. The second edition of about 300 was authorized by Archduke Ferdinand (Maximilian's grandson and later Holy Roman Emperor) in 1526–28, and a third edition by Archduke Charles (Ferdinand's son) in 1559. Separate editions of just the scenes from Maximilian's life were printed, the first in 1520 just after his death.Bartrum, (1995), 51 A separate print of the

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

, itself another major piece of

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

propagandizing, was created, to be pasted over the empty 24th historical panel. A fourth edition was published by Adam Bartsch in Vienna in 1799, with many of the block showing considerable wear - several missing blocks were replaced by

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

s by Bartsch (including the '' Battle of Utrecht'', Maximilian's coronation, and the '' First Congress of Vienna''; the 24th panel shows a new image of the ''

Battle of Pavia The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as well as ruler of Spain, ...

''). A fifth edition followed in 1886. 171 of the 195 original woodblocks survive and are held by the

Albertina, Vienna The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as wel ...

.Bartrum, (1995), 53

References

Notes Bibliograph ** Bartrum, Giulia, ''Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy'', British Museum Press, 2002, ** Bartrum, Giulia, ''German Renaissance Prints, 1490–1550'', British Museum Press, 1995, ** Kurth, Willi & C. Dodgson,
The complete woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer
', Courier Dover Publications, 1963, *
''The Triumphal Arch of Emperor Maxmilian I''
Metropolitan Museum of Art *
Albrecht Dürer and others, ''The Triumphal Arch'', woodcut
from the British Museum ** Stiber, Linda S., Elmer Eusman & Sylvia Albro,

, The American Institute for Conservation, ''The Book and Paper Group Annual'', Vol. 14, 1995 ** http://www.albrechtdurer.org/woodcuts/ from www.AlbrechtDurer.org, 2019 ** https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1925.466 from Clevelandart.org, 2020 ** https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-triumphal-arch-of-emperor-maximilian-i-1515 from The Public Domain Review, 2020 Further reading *''Grand Scale: Monumental Prints in the Age of Dürer and Titian: Monumental Prints in the Age of Durer and Titian'', 2008, Larry Silver and Elizabeth Wyckoff

External links

The Triumphal Arch
British Museum. Good zoomable images

One night at the Museum: moving Dürer's paper triumph
Joanna Kosek, conservator, British Museum
Restoring Albrecht Dürer's masterpiece ''The Arch of Honour of Maximilian I''.
National Gallery of Denmark {{Dürer Triumphal arches Woodcuts 1515 works Prints by Albrecht Dürer Prints and drawings in the British Museum 16th-century prints Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor