Advanced Search 
Der Weisskunig (The White King)
Author: Emperor Maximilian I (German, 1459–1519)
Illustrated by: Hans Burgkmair, the Elder (German, 1473–1531)
Illustrated by: Leonhard Beck (German, about 1480–1542)
Illustrated by: Hans Springinklee (German, died in 1549)
Illustrated by: Hans Leonhard Schäufelein (German, about 1484–1539 or 1540)
Illustrated by: Hans Burgkmair, the Elder (German, 1473–1531)
Illustrated by: Leonhard Beck (German, about 1480–1542)
Illustrated by: Hans Springinklee (German, died in 1549)
Illustrated by: Hans Leonhard Schäufelein (German, about 1484–1539 or 1540)
about 1510–16
Place of Manufacture: Augsburg, Germany
Medium/Technique
Bound album with 119 woodcuts, 52 drawings, and manuscript text
Dimensions
Overall: 43.4 x 30.5 x 7 cm (17 1/16 x 12 x 2 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Katherine E. Bullard Fund
Accession Number57.40
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsIllustrated books
Drawings – Albums
Prints – Albums
Drawings – Albums
Prints – Albums
The text of Der Weisskunig (which can be translated as both White King and Wise King) was dictated beginning in 1505 by the Emperor Maximilian I (1459 - 1519) to his secretary as an rather embellished and idealized biographical account of his ancestry, birth, liberal education, and valorous accomplishments on the battlefield. One of the many ambitious printed projects that were intended to extend Maximilian's influence and immortalize his reign, the Weisskunig was illustrated with 236 woodcuts designed by Hans Burgkmair and other artists. Maximilian died before Der Weisskunig was completed, and this mock-up copy contains 119 proof impressions and 52 anonymous drawings used to indicate the placement of additional illustrations. It is annotated in many hands, including one that may be that of the emperor himself.
Catalogue Raisonné
Dodgson, German and Flemish, II, p. 10, no. 15; p. 60, no. 14; pp. 90-96, nos. 55-101; p. 125, no. 7; pp. 128-30, nos. 1-48; Hollstein, German: Beck 11, Burgkmair 431-541, Schäufelein 60-61; [facsimile edition, ed. C-M. Dreissiger] (1985)
Description[Augsburg: about 1510-1516] Folio volume; 180 leaves; eighteenth-century gilt-stamped brown calf, red cloth box.
Illustrations of the youth, education, and deeds of the "White (Wise) King," a barely-disguised self-portrait of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519). The proofs, which seem to have been largely printed on printer's castoffs from a book project, have been pasted onto the leaves of the album, which undoubtedly has been rebound since the sixteenth century.
Illustrations of the youth, education, and deeds of the "White (Wise) King," a barely-disguised self-portrait of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519). The proofs, which seem to have been largely printed on printer's castoffs from a book project, have been pasted onto the leaves of the album, which undoubtedly has been rebound since the sixteenth century.
ProvenanceAbout 1510/1516, Maximilian I (b. 1459 – d. 1519), Holy Roman Emperor; 1519, upon his death, to his secretary, Marx Treitzsauerwin (b. 1450 – d. 1527); by descent, through his daughter, to Richard Strein (or Streun) von Schwarzenau (b. 1538 - d. 1600), Vienna [see note 1]; probably from Strein von Schwarzenau to Christoph von Schallenberg (b. 1561 – d. 1597), Vienna; by descent to his son, Georg Christoph von Schallenberg (b. 1593 – d. 1657), Vienna [see note 2]. By 1775, Paul Anton von Gundel, Vienna [see note 3]. By 1849, Franz von Hauslab (b. 1798 – d. 1883), Vienna [see note 4]; by inheritance to Johan II, Prince of Liechtenstein (b. 1840 –d. 1929), Vienna; until about the 1950s, by inheritance within the Princes of Liechtenstein, Vienna and Vaduz, Liechtenstein [see note 5]. 1957, sold by William H. Schab (dealer), New York, to the MFA for $35,000. (Accession Date: January 10, 1957)
NOTES:
[1] The frontispiece is inscribed with his name. Wolfard Strein married one of Treitzsauerwein’s daughters; see Alwin Schultz, in Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses 6 (1888), p. xxvii.
[2] See Der Weiss Kunig (Vienna, 1775), p. ix, which notes that Christoph von Schallenberg was a friend of Richard Strein. The frontispiece is inscribed with Georg Christoph von Schallenberg’s name and the date 1633.
[3] Der Weiss Kunig (as above, n. 2), p. ix, note a.
[4] Heinrich Glax, in Quellen und Forschungen zur vaterlandischen Literatur und Kunst (Vienna, 1849), p. 266. His collection was inherited by Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein.
[5] This was still in the Princes of Liechtenstein collection in 1940, when Campbell Dodgson mentioned it (“A German Russian Alliance in 1514,” Burlington Magazine, May 1940, p. 139). Much of the Liechtenstein collection was sold off in the years around 1950.
NOTES:
[1] The frontispiece is inscribed with his name. Wolfard Strein married one of Treitzsauerwein’s daughters; see Alwin Schultz, in Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses 6 (1888), p. xxvii.
[2] See Der Weiss Kunig (Vienna, 1775), p. ix, which notes that Christoph von Schallenberg was a friend of Richard Strein. The frontispiece is inscribed with Georg Christoph von Schallenberg’s name and the date 1633.
[3] Der Weiss Kunig (as above, n. 2), p. ix, note a.
[4] Heinrich Glax, in Quellen und Forschungen zur vaterlandischen Literatur und Kunst (Vienna, 1849), p. 266. His collection was inherited by Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein.
[5] This was still in the Princes of Liechtenstein collection in 1940, when Campbell Dodgson mentioned it (“A German Russian Alliance in 1514,” Burlington Magazine, May 1940, p. 139). Much of the Liechtenstein collection was sold off in the years around 1950.