The Only Arch I Want To See

Albrecht Dürer et al, The Triumph of Maximilian, 1515-17, printed 1799, collection NYPL Rather than build an actual f’ing arch the Emperor Maximilian commissioned a monumental print arch, which could be reproduced and installed all over. It was the only of his grandiose print projects that was completed during his lifetime. Albrecht Dürer and a workshop of least three other artist/printers spent two years producing 198 woodblocks to print on 36 folio sheets (18 x 24 inches). The assembled image is 12 x 10 feet, and was printed in five editions, beginning in 1517. The first edition of around 700 was distributed to the princes of the Holy Roman Empire. The Fraktur typeface was commissioned for this print. The New York Public Library says their The Triumph of Maximilian on view at 42nd Street at the moment, printed in 1799, is a third edition. But the third edition was printed in 1559; the edition printed in 1799 was the fourth, which sounds a little rough. Nevertheless, it is on view,…