33 plates from The Triumphal Procession of Emperor Maximilian I (Bartsch 81; Hollstein 552-618)

These woodcuts showing the majestic cavalcades of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian (1459-1519), have been described as 'the most grandiloquent expression of the art of engraving' (Douglas Bliss, A History of Wood-Engraving, 1928, p. 126). They were published at the order of the Archduke Ferdinand from staggeringly large blocks cut between 1516 and 1519 and intended for assembly as a grand frieze extending to 54 metres. Maximilian, an impulsive and generous ruler, was conscious of the need to uphold his glorious Habsburg heritage but lacked the necessary funds to organise a grand procession. His place in the Imperial Roman tradition was nonetheless guaranteed through the monumental scale of these purely imaginary compositions on paper.