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Original fileTriomfwagen van keizer Maximiliaan I
About This Work
This woodcut depicts the Holy Roman Emperor in a highly decorated carriage, being crowned with a laurel wreath by the winged figure of Victory. Every component of the chariot and its attendants is labeled as an allegorical virtue, including Justice, Prudence, and Fortitude. The wheels represent Honor and Magnificence, while the reins are held by the figure of Reason.
This work is a primary example of Renaissance humanist political allegory, devised by the scholar Willibald Pirckheimer to frame the Emperor as a Neoplatonic ideal of the 'perfect prince.' The inscription comparing the Emperor to the sun in heaven reflects the Hermetic and Neoplatonic concepts of the macrocosm and microcosm applied to statecraft.
Inscriptions(Latin)
QVOD IN CELIS SOL. HOC IN TERRA CAESAR EST. VERI PRINCIPIS IMAGO. IVSTICIA CLEMENTIA VERITAS TEMPERANTIA LIBERALITAS AEQVITAS FORTITVDO INTELICENTIA MANSVETVDO PRVDENTIA CONSTANTIA BONITAS VICTORIA SECVRITAS FIDENTIA RATIO NOBILITAS POTENTIA HONOR MAGNIFICENTIA DIGNITAS GLORIA PERSEVERANTIA GRAVITAS
Translation
AS THE SUN IS IN THE HEAVENS, SO IS CAESAR UPON THE EARTH. IMAGE OF A TRUE PRINCE. JUSTICE CLEMENCY TRUTH TEMPERANCE LIBERALITY EQUITY FORTITUDE INTELLIGENCE GENTLENESS PRUDENCE CONSTANCY GOODNESS VICTORY SECURITY CONFIDENCE REASON NOBILITY POWER HONOR MAGNIFICENCE DIGNITY GLORY PERSEVERANCE GRAVITY
Connected Texts
Willibald Pirckheimer
The Nuremberg humanist who designed the complex allegorical program for this print and the larger Triumphal Arch project.
Petrarch's I Trionfi
The literary foundation for the Renaissance revival of the triumphal procession as an allegorical genre.
Provenance & Source
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
paper
height 416 mm x width 308 mm
allegory
Linked Data
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