During the Renaissance, the imperial city of Augsburg in southern Germany became an important artistic center. Its financial prosperity in banking and trade – as seen in the enormous wealth of the Fugger, Welser, and Hoechstetter families – and its close ties to the Holy Roman Emperor ensured Augsburg’s artists a sophisticated and demanding set of patrons.

One of its print publishers was the Academie Imperiale, which was founded in 1755.