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Albrecht Dürer

Coat of Arms of Maximilian I as King of the Romans

c. 1517
Woodcut in black on ivory laid paper
23.3 × 15 cm (9.2 × 5.9 in)

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

This double-sided book illustration presents the heraldry of the soon-to-be Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian, Albrecht Dürer’s patron. The chain of stylized flints and firebrands with a dangling sheepskin denotes the Emperor’s membership in the exceedingly prestigious Order of the Golden Fleece, while the central eagles and griffins refer to his various territories. The shield of the author Florian Waldauff appears on the verso, in a woodcut also not by Dürer. Evidently the recto block wore out in the 1500 first edition of the Revelations of Saint Bridget ; the 1517 edition replaced Dürer’s very similar design with this entirely new one.

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