ls, and the latter
because Charlemagne was a favorite hero with the Germans. The
_Charlemagne_ is here reproduced. In wonderful jeweled coronation
robes, with the coat of arms of France on one side and that of Germany
on the other, he is a fine figure well suited to make us feel Durer's
power as a painter.

[Illustration: CHARLEMAGNE _Durer_]

In 1512, there came to Nuremberg a royal visitor, no less a personage
than the Emperor Maximilian. This was of greatest importance to Durer
to whom two important commissions came as the result of this visit.
The Emperor had no settled abode, so his travels were important, at
least to himself. He was fond of dictating poems and descriptions of
these travels. Durer was asked to make wood-cuts for a book of the
Emperor's travels to consist of two parts, the one called _The
Triumphal Arch_ and the other _The Triumphal Car_.

The wood-cuts for the first were made on ninety-two separate blocks
which, when put together, formed one immense cut ten and a half feet
high by nine feet wide. For this Durer made all the designs which were
cut by a skilled workman of the city, Hieronymus Andrae. It was while
this work was going forward that the well-known saying, "A cat may
look at a king," arose. The Emperor was often at the workshop watching
the progress of the work and he was frequently entertained by the pet
cats of the wood-cutter who would come in to be with their master.

The designs for _The Triumphal Car_ were of the same general style. In
these Durer was assisted by other engravers of the city. One
expression of Durer's regarding the ornamentation of the car shows him
skilled in the language of the courtier as well as in that of the
citizen. He says, "It is adorned, not with gold and precious stones,
which are the property of the good and bad alike, but with the virtues
which only the really noble possess."

The noted _Prayer Book of Maximilian_ was the other work done for the
Emperor. Only three of these are in existence and of course they are
almost priceless in value. The text was illustrated by Durer on the
margin in pen and ink drawings in different colored inks. Sometimes
the artist's fancy is expressed in twining vines and flying birds and
butterflies, again it is the kneeling Psalmist listening in rapt
attention to some heavenly harpist, or it may be that the crafty fox
beguiles the unsuspecting fowls with music from a stolen flute. Thus
through almost endless vari