Panel

Dutch Master

Low Countries 1500-1550

Portrait of Emperor Maximilian I.

Posthumous copy, probably after Bernard Strigel of Vienna, but depicting the emperor at a different age.

From an English private collection, probably part of a series.

 

The inscription on the portrait is barely legible, and rather mysterious. Many have been called upon to interpret the text, but no-one has been able to tell what it really says. It is clear, however, that the text must include the name and title of the portrayed person. The text is cryptic, giving precious few clues as to the man’s identity. Nowadays the man is identified as either Maximilian I or Philip the Good, who founded the Order of the Golden Fleece around 1430, in Burgundy. The man portrayed wears the sign of the order around the neck. The order is Christian, but an antique symbol was used to express it: the golden fleece, which was the focus of Jason’s quest in the Greek myth of the Argonauts. Philip was a duke of Burgundy, the duchy which the Habsburgs would inherit. The order was restricted to Roman Catholics of the highest nobility, and we see many Habsburgs who are members of the order, as well as several counts van den Bergh (see elsewhere: portraits).

The rather feminine style of the haircut, as well as the hat in two parts, are typical of the fashion around 1500.

Pierre de la Rue (1460-1518)

Mijn hert altijt heeft verlanghen

The Musick’s Monument Vocal Ensemble