Allegory of the Virtues of Dürer

Hans Daucher, who left his mark for posterity with his own monogram on a panel lying at the bottom right corner, made this complex allegorical relief in tribute to the pre-eminent artist Albrecht Dürer, who was still alive at the time. At the foot of a mighty tree, against a background of landscape and an encampment of tents, we see the artist hero fighting a foe in armour recumbent on the ground. This victory of the independent artist over envy and resentment is won before the eyes of Maximilian I, the humanist emperor, standing at the left. A robe of honour for the artist is already being taken from a chest. The three men in the background represent heroes of bygone days: Hercules with his club symbolizes antiquity, David stands for Biblical times, and Theodoric the Great, the converted king of the Goths, stands for the modern era. Three female counterparts representing virtues stand at the right: Justitia, with her walled crown; Fortitudo, with her helmet; and Prudentia, the virtue of prudence and wisdom. The programme for the allegory was probably devised by Johann Stabius, counsellor to Maximilian I, who is seen standing behind the emperor.