Emperor Maximilian I.
about 1508/09 | Joos van Cleve
This small, closely cropped half-length portrait was probably painted while the emperor was visiting the Netherlands. The softness of Maximilian’s face is rather untypical; most surviving portraits depict the emperor with sharp features (cf. Dürer’s famous portrait of 1515, Inv. No. GG 825). The carnation in Maximilian’s hand is also mysterious since this was normally a feature of an engagement picture. It may be a reference to his marriage to Bianca Mary Sforza, who in 1494 became the second wife of the widowed emperor.
This small, closely cropped half-length portrait was probably painted while the emperor was visiting the Netherlands. The softness of Maximilian’s face is rather untypical; most surviving portraits depict the emperor with sharp features (cf. Dürer’s famous portrait of 1515, Inv. No. GG 825). The carnation in Maximilian’s hand is also mysterious since this was normally a feature of an engagement picture. It may be a reference to his marriage to Bianca Mary Sforza, who in 1494 became the second wife of the widowed emperor.
Artist:
Joos van Cleve (um 1485 Kleve ? - 1540 Antwerpen) DNB
Depiction/Person:
Maximilian I. (1477-1519), seit 1493 deutscher König, 1508 Kaiser (1459 - 1519) DNB
Time:
about 1508/09
Object Name
Painting
Culture
Netherlandish
Material/technology:
oak wood
Dimensions:
28,5 x 22,3 cm
Framed: 36 cm × 27,2 cm × 3,5 cm
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie
Invs.
Gemäldegalerie, 972
Provenance
Coll. Leopold Wilhelm