Indeed, he showed his impatience, while the various blocks were in progress, by frequently visiting not merely Dürer himself, but also the "formschneider" or block-cutter, who lived in a street approached by the Frauengasslein. Hence the old Nuremberg proverb, "The Emperor still often drives to Petticoat Lane."[120] Dürer was appointed painter to Maximilian, with a grant of arms and a salary of 100 florins a year; and {96} a letter of the Emperor to the Town Council of Nuremberg is still extant, in which he demands Dürer's exemption from "communal imposts, and all other contributions in money, in testimony of our friendship for him, and for the sake of the marvellous art of which it is but just that he should freely benefit. We trust that you will not refuse the demand we now make of you, because it is proper, as far as possible, to encourage the arts he cultivates and so largely develops among you."[121] These earnest words of Maximilian reveal to us very clearly his attitude towards the great movement of his day. Yet, sad as it is to relate, Dürer never received payment for the ninety-two sheets of the "Triumphal Arch," which had cost him so much time and labour, and after Maximilian's death they were sold separately. But the Emperor may fairly be absolved from the charge of mean treatment of Dürer, for his own needs were great and many, and it is strictly true that he spent very little upon himself. The great artist was always treated with distinction as a personal friend of the Emperor, who, besides granting him a fixed salary, gave him material assistance in checking the forging and pirating of his engravings. He sometimes resided at Court, when Maximilian held it at Augsburg, and often employed his time in making sketches in chalk of the illustrious persons whom he met. On one occasion Maximilian was attempting to draw a design for Dürer, but kept breaking the charcoal in doing so. When the artist took the pencil and, without once breaking it, easily completed the sketch, the Emperor expressed his surprise and probably showed his annoyance. But {97} Dürer was ready with his compliment. "I should not like your Majesty," he said, "to be able to draw as well as I. It is my province to draw and yours to rule."[122] Not the least interesting and important of Dürer's commissions was to paint that portrait of the Emperor which now hangs in the Imperial Gallery at Vienna. The prominent nose, the hanging eyelid, the half-contemptuous, half-mournful turn of the lips, the wrinkled cheeks and neck, the long hair falling over the ears, the pointed bonnet with its clasp, the sombre flowing robes, form a striking picture and suggest a speaking likeness. Disappointment, but also that peculiar attribute of the Hapsburgs, resignation, are clearly marked upon Maximilian's face. In the other two portraits by Dürer--a chalk drawing executed at the Diet of Augsburg (1518) and a woodcut