/internal/media/dispatcher/12072/fullEmperor Maximilian I Visits Artisans1822[Karl Russ]Karl RussOil on woodEmperor Maximilian I (1459–1519), known as the last knight, has entered the filthiest, most foul-smelling neighborhood of a medieval town: the tanners’ district, where he even offers his hand to one of the men! Two of the emperor’s companions—dignitaries in fantasy costumes—observe this scene with undisguised disgust. There is nothing in this painting that is likely to have any historical accuracy, with the exception of the tanner laboriously removing remnants of flesh and fat from the animal hide draped across a log. This picture was one of more than thirty works by Russ displayed at the Academy exhibition of 1822. Most of these showed scenes from the lives of Rudolf von Habsburg (1218–91) and Emperor Maximilian.Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/3883/rdf