Probably Germany, 16-19th century

Probably Germany, 16-19th century, Monogram A.A., Portrait of the Dead of Emperor Maximilian III
Inscription: MAXIMILIAN REM SCHER KAISER. GEPOREN 1459 AM 22 Tag MARCI. VERSCHIEDEN 1519 AM 12 Tag JANUARI 1519 UND. DARNACH CONTERFET WORDEN. The dead portrait of Maximilian I is in several versions, which are now kept in Graz, Zittau, Budapest, and Innsbruck. Of these, the Graz version was always considered to be the original. The portrait shows the deceased emperor up to his shoulders, with a red cap against a green background. Only a white shroud and a black sheet wrapped over it cover the naked corpse. The portrait conveys movingly the appearance of the dead emperor, who died in January 1519 at the age of 60 in the castle of Wels. The pathological emaciation of the facial features and the restriction to a few, clearly separated colors increase the overall impression of the dead into a dramatic one. If one compares the other variants to our picture, that in his facial expression and in the morbid, almost green-bluish coloration of the flesh and thus the organic decay in a dramatic whiteness, we can see that we are perhaps the original version of the dead portrait of Maximilian I. have. The high quality of the tempera painting suggests that this work was created in the circle of Albrecht Dürers.
Mixed technique on paper, 42,5 x 28,5 cm