But more specifically, this is a blog about a book about a man with a large nose. That book doesn't exist yet but this blog will document the creation of it. The trials and triumphs, the tears and terror when I don't feel it is measuring up to its subject. But it's mainly about the creative process which includes all of the above. There will also be some personal reflection because I find I learn about myself as I learn about my subject.
Who is the subject? This guy.
Kaiser Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, 1459-1519.
Why Maximilian? There are a lot of reasons: of all the historical figures I have come across, his personality is the strongest and most unique. There is a wonderfully earthy quality in all of his extant literature, whether he is writing to his daughter Margaret or to his financiers in Innsbruck, asking for more money to fund his Italian campaigns. This quality makes him tangibly human and though he died nearly five hundred years ago, his voice and personality still ring clearly. A lot of this comes through in the portraiture as well. Thankfully, our best images of him come from the hands of Albrecht Durer, second only to Hans Holbein the Younger as a portraiturist. Particularly the sketch above, done at the Reichstag in Augsburg when he was nearing sixty, conveys much of his humour in the lines around the eyes and his calm self-confidence through the carriage of the head.
I can analyze Durer's portraits for hours so on we go. Why else? Max was very much a traditionalist and an idealist in his thinking, which meant he wasn't entirely able to cope with contemporary economics and politics. Furthermore, I suspect that his head wasn't always in the present; instead, he was considering a potential crusade against the Turks, or one of his many artistic projects of self-promotion, or planning his next hunt. He was a very observant yet very distracted man and I find this dichotomy fascinating.
Max was also very emotional and with this came an energy and a restlessness that characterized his rule, first as King of the Romans in 1486 and later as Holy Roman Emperor in 1508. Athletic and competitive, he hunted prolifically and recklessly. He also remained continuously on the move during his thirty years in power, though Innsbruck in the heart of Tirol was always his preferred place of residence.
But this is becoming a history lesson. Voltaire said that historians are gossips who tease the dead and that is what I intend to do with Kaiser Max. This book is going to be a graphic novel, an autobiographical work told in the first person from his perspective, with illustrations in various stages of complexity. I am justified in my teasing for he could be equally liberal with his own 'autobiographical' works like Theuerdank and Weisskunig - the first was a fictionalized account of his trip to Burgundy to claim his first wife and the second was an expose on his all-around (self-perceived) brilliance. There won't be much hyperbole in this work. Instead, I'm aiming for a bare-bones presentation of his life, told in his own pragmatic tones. However, as he makes clear in his introduction, he recounts events as he choses - only those he wants to remember or those he cannot forget.
This blog is going to document that process. Expect to find art, photographs, introspection, and more details on the early 16th century Holy Roman Empire than you ever wanted to know. I will post snippets of writing but until I am more familiar with the intricacies of posting online vs. possibility of future publication, I will refrain from putting anything substantial up.
It is tentatively called Der Weisskunig. The White King.
I can analyze Durer's portraits for hours so on we go. Why else? Max was very much a traditionalist and an idealist in his thinking, which meant he wasn't entirely able to cope with contemporary economics and politics. Furthermore, I suspect that his head wasn't always in the present; instead, he was considering a potential crusade against the Turks, or one of his many artistic projects of self-promotion, or planning his next hunt. He was a very observant yet very distracted man and I find this dichotomy fascinating.
Max was also very emotional and with this came an energy and a restlessness that characterized his rule, first as King of the Romans in 1486 and later as Holy Roman Emperor in 1508. Athletic and competitive, he hunted prolifically and recklessly. He also remained continuously on the move during his thirty years in power, though Innsbruck in the heart of Tirol was always his preferred place of residence.
But this is becoming a history lesson. Voltaire said that historians are gossips who tease the dead and that is what I intend to do with Kaiser Max. This book is going to be a graphic novel, an autobiographical work told in the first person from his perspective, with illustrations in various stages of complexity. I am justified in my teasing for he could be equally liberal with his own 'autobiographical' works like Theuerdank and Weisskunig - the first was a fictionalized account of his trip to Burgundy to claim his first wife and the second was an expose on his all-around (self-perceived) brilliance. There won't be much hyperbole in this work. Instead, I'm aiming for a bare-bones presentation of his life, told in his own pragmatic tones. However, as he makes clear in his introduction, he recounts events as he choses - only those he wants to remember or those he cannot forget.
This blog is going to document that process. Expect to find art, photographs, introspection, and more details on the early 16th century Holy Roman Empire than you ever wanted to know. I will post snippets of writing but until I am more familiar with the intricacies of posting online vs. possibility of future publication, I will refrain from putting anything substantial up.
It is tentatively called Der Weisskunig. The White King.
A beautifully-written first entry, Alimax! :D I eagerly await the bits and bobs that will eventually make their way on here, as their documentation will be glorious. <3
ReplyDeleteThanks a bunch! That means a hella lot, especially from you. Now I've just got to make the time to keep this show on the road.
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