portrait of Johann Kleeberger

Johann Kleberger was a prosperous merchant and financier who married the widowed daughter of Dürer’s close associate, the humanist Willibald Pirckheimer. The portrait presents Kleberger as a sculptural bust within a circular medallion, emphasizing his status and connections within the civic elite.

The composition adopts the format of a classical medal, likely influenced by Hans Burgkmair’s engravings of Roman medals. Dürer renders the figure in a trompe‑l’œil setting: a painted wall with a recessed circular opening, inside which the bust appears, surrounded by an inscription and heraldic motifs in the four corners.

After Kleberger’s death, the painting passed to his stepson, Willibal Imhof, who later sold it to Emperor Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor. It subsequently entered the imperial collection and eventually became part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s holdings.

The portrait was created in the same year Dürer painted the likenesses of Hieronymus Holzschuher and Jakob Muffel, reflecting a period in which he produced a series of individualized, medal‑style portraits for prominent Nuremberg citizens.