Johann Anton Williard, Emperor Maximilian I visiting Albrecht Dürer in his studio, a lithograph

Dresden, AD 1829

The humanist Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560) once commented that the emperor Maximilian had tried to make a drawing of Dürer, but the charcoal broke in his hand. The inscription below this print of the subject (which translates: 'This is my sceptre; I had not hoped that your Majesty would be as good an artist as I am') suggests that the emperor should stick to politics and Dürer to his art.

A series of mock-stained glass paintings celebrating the life of Dürer was erected in Nuremberg in 1828 in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the artist's death. The project was probably masterminded by Ernst Joachim Förster who designed one of the scenes. The appearance of these translucent paintings is known today through preparatory drawings, printed copies and a set of glass panel copies.

This is number five of seven lithographic plates in Scenen aus dem Leben Albrecht Dürers ('Scenes from the Life of Albrecht Dürer'), four of which are based directly on the translucent paintings; plate 5 is one of the three that were designed in the same semi-fictitious style.

G. Bartrum (ed.), Albrecht Dürer and his legacy: (London and N.J., The British Museum Press and Princeton University Press, 2002)