Kardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg (Der große Kardinal)

Peter Troschel copied Dürer’s portrait of “Cardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg,” made in 1523, which, in contrast to the engraving “Der kleine Cardinal” (“The Little Cardinal”), was also called “The Great Cardinal” (“The Great Cardinal”), which had been formed some years earlier in connection with the Reichstag in Augsburg in 1518. As one of several memorial leaves, it was intended for a book publication, so for the sake of uniformity, Troschel expanded it slightly downward and placed it in an oval frame, which in turn is framed by cartouches and decorative work. Inscriptions are found in the oval framing as well as in the cartouches. The cardinal coat of arms added to the leaf in Dürer’s front face lies on the central axis and splits the lower inscription. In 1827, Heller accidentally wrote that it was a “copy of the opposite side” (cf. Heller Dürer 1827 II.520,1038), which lead to confusion in the identification. While there is no evidence of Dürer as the spiritual creator of the image idea, "P. Troschel sculp."integrated into the representation. A copy of Hortleather’s 1645 published book, for which the engraving was intended, was in Heller’s possession (see JH.H.bell.f.5 of the State Library Bamberg).