Bildnis des Michael Wolgemut

The drawing employs fine cross‑hatching to convey tonal variation and the three‑dimensional form of the face. This method, typical of early 19th‑century reproductions, translates the painted original’s chiaroscuro into a linear medium suitable for engraving on metal.

The medal design, bearing the date “1508” and Dürer’s monogram, was documented in the 19th‑century catalogues of the Bamberg State Library, where a specimen entered the collection in 1849 from the estate of the scholar Heller. The original Dürer painting now resides on loan from the Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich, to the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg (Inv. Gm885).

The creation of the Wolgemut Medal reflects the 16th‑century practice of commemorating artists through numismatic portraiture. By the mid‑1500s, such medals functioned as both scholarly references and objects of prestige, linking the visual culture of painting with the emerging field of medallic art.