Maler may have trained with the German artist Bartholomäus Zeitblom, who was chief master of the School of Ulm between 1484 and 1517.
He painted numerous portraits of members of the Habsburg court at Innsbruck as well as of wealthy merchants such as the Fuggers.
[1] Maler's two most important patrons were Ferdinand I of Austria, who at the time was Archduke (Later Emperor) and the celebrated Fuggers.
Maler also painted portraits in 1517 of Sebastian Andorfer, a successful metal maker and merchant from Schwaz.
[2] His portrait style rarely varied from his bust-format, where the subject's hands were not shown and without eye contact to the viewer.