Inspired by a rare hand-colored original from the Bavarian State Library in Munich, Taschen is reproducing “Theuerdank: The Epic of the Last Knight” as a new edition. “Theuerdank” is an epic, highly embellished knight’s tale: the story of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519).
Maximilian had a great appreciation of the arts, and in order to glorify and memorialize his life, he commissioned an opulent trilogy with spectacular illustrations. Of the three volumes, the only one published in his lifetime was “Theuerdank,” written by Melchior Pfinzing using Maximilian’s rather grandiose outline.
