The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (born March 22 [today!], 1459 – Jan 12, 1519) was, like so many rulers, very concerned with his legacy. There are plenty of (vain) glorious statues, churches, spires, columns, obelisks, and other such structures left to us throughout history by powerful figures; and Maximilian has certainly contributed this list.

Where he differs is in his contemporary cutting edge ideas; he used the power of the printing press. Created only shortly before his time, this invention allowed for multiples to be made of texts and images.

This was revolutionary. And inexpensive. And portable. And, very importantly, reproducible.

Let’s say you’re Maximilian. You have a vast empire over which to wield your authority and display your legacy. You can build a giant equestrian statue in front of the biggest church in the most populated city within your realm, but this costly endeavour, while very impressive and imposing, has a limited scope of influence. Your massive rural population, who may never visit your capital city, may never see this grandiose sight.

Triumphal arches have been used by numerous emperors and other heads of state for these sorts of proclamatory purposes. They provide a large, flat and easily readable space upon which to illustrate whatever one wishes: Napoleon used his to honour war dead, inscribing on it the names of all French victories and generals. Constantine constructed his to celebrate his victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge.

So, what did Maximilian do? He commissioned some of the top artists of his time to design an arch, filled with various narrative images and themes, but this arch was to be on paper!

The massive Triumphal Arch of Maximilian I was the largest print ever created. Pieced together from 192 separate woodblock prints, this print measures a mighty 3.4 m x 2.9 m. It was designed by a few artists; Albrecht Dürer is mainly credited with its creation, but in fact much of the design work fell to his assistants Hans Springinklee and Wolf Traut. Yet another artist, Albrecht Altdorfer, is credited specifically with the round towers which flank the arch.