Stablemen of Various Nations

This drawing is in the distinctive blue mat of Pierre-Jean Mariette, who recognized the connection between the sheet and the celebrated series of woodcuts showing the Triumphal Procession of Emperor Maximilian I (1507-18). A monumental project executed by a group of artists in the emperor's circle, the print series was left incomplete at the time of Maximilian's death. In 1741 Mariette acquired a set of these extremely rare prints, which inspired him to create a written study about their creation. He was convinced that Dürer was the author of the present sheet and responsible for the design of the print series. Scholars now believe that this drawing, depicting figures from the prints, was made by an artist in Dürer's circle and that the monogram is not authentic. - Exhibition Label, from "Pierre-Jean Mariette and the Art of Collecting Drawings."
Formerly attributed to Hans Burgkmair, 1473-1531.