Plate A: Election and Coronation of Emperor Maximilian II
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 7 9/16 × 11 1/4 in. (19.2 × 28.6 cm) Plate: 6 3/4 × 9 7/8 in. (17.1 × 25.1 cm)
Classification
Prints|Prints-Fete|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.570.351(1)
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
This 1612 etching captures the grand public spectacle of Emperor Maximilian II’s election and coronation as Holy Roman Emperor. Though the actual events took place decades earlier in the 1560s, the print commemorates the elaborate ceremony with a lively crowd gathered before ornate buildings, mounted figures, and ceremonial processions. Created by German printmakers of the early seventeenth century—possibly involving artists such as Johann Bringern or Wilhelm Hoffmans—the work belongs to a tradition of festival prints that documented important political rituals for a wider audience. Executed in etching, a medium prized for its fine detail and expressive line work, the plate highlights the architectural setting and the animated throng of onlookers on horseback and on foot. Such prints served both as historical records and as decorative objects, blending ornament with architecture to evoke the majesty of imperial power. Acquired by the Metropolitan Museum in 1959 as part of the Elisha Whittelsey Collection, this sheet offers today’s visitors a vivid glimpse into how seventeenth-century Europeans celebrated and remembered their rulers.
About the Artist
Johann Bringern|Anonymous, German, 17th century|Willhelm Hoffmans (German|German|German) · 1600 |1512 |1512 –1700 |1712 |1712
|German, active Frankfurt|German, active Frankfurt