
Read the visual description
The image depicts a printed page with ornate medieval illustrations and Latin text. The central illustration shows an eagle holding a scroll, surrounded by floral motifs and heraldic elements, including a shield with a double-headed eagle. Flanking the central image are smaller panels: on the left, a cherubic figure stands with animals, and below it, a lion's head encircled by Baroque flourishes and the text "S S M A R C V S"; on the right, an angelic figure appears above a bull's head with the text "S L V C A S". The text below the images is in Latin script, spread in a multi-column format with decorative capital letters. The illustrations incorporate detailed line work typical of Renaissance woodcut prints.
National Gallery of Art · Print
Allegory of the Eagle and Emperor Maximilian I
German 15th Century
- Date
- 1497
- Medium
- woodcut
- Classification
- Accession number
- 1943.3.644
- Credit line
- Rosenwald Collection
- Time span
- 1401 to 1500
- Department
- CG-E
Subjects and terms
- plant
- bird
- animal
- Cow
- Strasbourg
- Figures
- Writing
- Apostles
Provenance
Martin Aufhäuser [1875-1944], Munich, Holland, and Los Angeles; [1] Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown, PA; gift to NGA, 1943. [1] For complete information on Aufhäuser's collection, see Rosenwald Papers, box 9, and Richard S. Field, _Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts_, Washington, D.C., 1965, Preface (np).
NGA object ID 3858. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.