Monogrammist AA’s Corpse of Maximillian I
Monogrammist AA's Corpse of Maximillian I
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This simple 1519 drawing by an unknown artist known as the Monogrammist AA depicts the head of the recently deceased Maximillian I above a Cross. No doubt the artist was hurriedly asked to portray the king before his burial and the drawing can be seen as just that: the best the courtiers could do to preserve their dead king’s likeness in the days before photography. Yet the unknown artist was a poet whose poetic meaning remains unseen.
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Detail of artist's initials with the Cross
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Taking advantage of the commission, he placed the letters of his name prominently on either side of the Cross to indicate on another level that this is a drawing of divinity in the artist’s mind, not the king’s. The king's name is not even cited. On this level the dead king is merely a symbol of the power and perfection of the draughtsman himself and it is not improbable, given how great masters have long fused their own features with royalty, that Maximillian’s face here looks somewhat like the artist as well.
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Notes:
Original Publication Date on EPPH: 19 Apr 2010. | Updated: 0. © Simon Abrahams. Articles on this site are the copyright of Simon Abrahams. To use copyrighted material in print or other media for purposes beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Websites may link to this page without permission (please do) but may not reproduce the material on their own site without crediting Simon Abrahams and EPPH.
