Illustration for the poem "To Nuremberg" by King Ludwig I of Bavaria

Watercolor and gouache on paper. King Ludwig I of Bavaria was an ultra-modernist when it came to the redesign of his capital of Munich, and a great fan of Italian and classical art. But it was in Nuremberg that he discovered a passion for the German Middle Ages. In fifteen strophes he gave enthusiastic voice to his deep admiration for the old imperial city. So the city council engaged architect-painter Carl Alexander Heideloff to decorate a copy of the text with a splendid pictorial border in the style of a medieval book of hours. Above the apex of the arch, a Nuremberg soldier in 15th-century Landsknecht uniform and a Bavarian infantryman support the royal coat of arms. The pious imagery framing the poem shows costumes from Nuremberg's golden age in the days of Albrecht Dürer and the Reformation. Gothic design, which enjoyed a great popular revival in the 19th century, dominates the architectural decor.