Marketing Maximilian: The Visual Ideology of a Holy Roman Emperor (review)
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Whether chosen by the author or his publisher—with an eye on the market—the title of this learned but accessible study of contemporary images of the emperor Maximilian I raises an intriguing question. It is obvious enough that present trends and problems encourage scholars to focus on particular aspects of the past. In an age of advertising and "spin," they turn to the history of image making. The question is whether we should speak of "marketing" the emperor—or of Selling the Tudor Monarchy, the title of another study published this year. Such titles are obviously anachronistic: are they also illuminating? My own view is that scholars who use this kind of language should also make explicit comparisons and contrasts with our own time, asking present-minded questions but avoiding present-minded answers. [End Page 158]
Peter Burke, professor of cultural history at Cambridge University and a fellow of Emmanuel College, is the author of some dozen books, including The Fabrication of Louis XIV, What is Cultural History?, A Social History of Knowledge, Eyewitnessing, History and Social Theory, The French Historical Revolution, Languages and Communities in Early Modern Europe, The Historical Anthropology of Early Modern Italy, and The Art of Conversation.
