Brant: Portus Libycus

    After landing at a secluded rocky harbor on the coast of Libya (157-158; harbor described in detail 159-168), the Trojans prepare a meal. In the background Aeneas shoots several deer from a herd that has crossed his path while he and Achates look along the coast for more survivors of the storm (lines 180-186). Below the ships, one man holds wine in wineskins salvaged from the ships (195-198), while a few others offload barrels of something, perhaps the grains mentioned in lines 177-9. In the right foreground someone roasts venison [note the deer antlers] (210-3); in the right corner, a Trojan mourns, representing the mourning of lost comrades at lines 217-222. On the left, a group of Trojans gathers around a fountain, feasting on a leg of venison. (Katy Purington)

    Woodcut illustration from the “Strasbourg Vergil,” edited by Sebastian Brant: Publii Virgilii Maronis Opera cum quinque vulgatis commentariis expolitissimisque figuris atque imaginibus nuper per Sebastianum Brant superadditis (Strasbourg: Johannis Grieninger, 1502), fol. 130v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

    Comments

    Sebastian Brant (1458­­–1521) was a humanist scholar of many competencies. Trained in classics and law at the University of Basel, Brant later lectured in jurisprudence there and practiced law in his native city of Strasbourg. While his satirical poem Das Narrenschiff won him considerable standing as a writer, his role in the transmission of Virgil to the Renaissance was at least as important. In 1502 he and Strasbourg printer Johannes Grüninger produced a major edition of Virgil’s works, along with Donatus’ Life and the commentaries of Servius, Landino, and Calderini, with more than two hundred woodcut illustrations (Annabel Patterson).

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    1502
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    Eimmart: Battle Scene

      This engraving depicts the thick of the battle with warriors on foot, and one horse lying on the ground at the left. Some of the people are not safe to identify, for instance Aeneas never swings a lance against Mezentius. It is most likely the scene at X 794ff., in which Lausus protects his wounded father Mezentius with his sword and shield against the enemy, Aeneas.

      Schlachtgetümmel unter Kriegern zu Fuß, doch liegt links ein Pferd am Boden. Bestimmte Personen sind nicht sicher zu identifizieren, jedenfalls schwingt Aeneas keine Lanze gegen Mezentius. Am ehesten handelt es sich um die Szene X 794ff., in der Lausus seinen verwundeten Vater Mezentius gegen den mit dem Schwert andringenden Aeneas mit den Schild schützt. (Suerbaum, p. 440)

      Engraving from a German children’s picture-book version of the Aeneid by G. J. Lang and G. C. Eimmart, “A tapestry of Roman virtues as seen in Vergil’s Aeneas and his brave deeds, rendered in sparkling engravings, as illustrations of the remarkable deeds of antiquity, for the common benefit of noble youth,” (Peplus virtutum Romanarum in Aenea Virgiliano eiusque rebus fortiter gestis, ad maiorem antiquitatis et rerum lucem, communi iuventutis sacratae bono, aere renitens) (Nuremburg: J.L. Buggel, 1688), pl. 44.

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      1688
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      21.86 x 16.92cm
      Inscription
      Lib. X. Aen. v. 783. Tum pius Aeneas hastam iacit./ usque 800.
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      Bavarian State Library, Munich
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      Eimmart: Turnus takes Pallas' sword belt

        Turnus robs the slain Pallas of his sword belt. There are foot soldiers, riders and a chariot with charioteer in the background.

        Turnus raubt dem erschlagenen Pallas den Schwertgurt; im Hintergrund Fußsoldaten, Reiter und ein Zweigespann mit Wagenlenker. (Suerbaum)

        Engraving from a German children’s picture-book version of the Aeneid by G. J. Lang and G. C. Eimmart, “A tapestry of Roman virtues as seen in Vergil’s Aeneas and his brave deeds, rendered in sparkling engravings, as illustrations of the remarkable deeds of antiquity, for the common benefit of noble youth,” (Peplus virtutum Romanarum in Aenea Virgiliano eiusque rebus fortiter gestis, ad maiorem antiquitatis et rerum lucem, communi iuventutis sacratae bono, aere renitens) (Nuremburg: J.L. Buggel, 1688), pl. 43.

         

        Comments

        The death of Pallas is a very important moment in the Aeneid, not least because Turnus seals his own fate with his brutal treatment of the young Arcadian. Turnus and Pallas are very clearly the main subject of this engraving, with the background drawn in with lighter lines to make the central pair pop out. Turnus is in the act of robbing the dead Pallas of his sword belt. The placement of his foot on Pallas’ stomach emphasizes the brutality of the whole episode. Turnus certainly comes off at his worst in this scene, ordering his troops to stand aside as he kills Pallas himself and declaring that he wished Evander could be there to witness the death of his son (cuperem ipse parens spectator adesset, X. 443). In the middleground are the troops of Turnus, and in the far background is the camp of the Trojans and Arcadians. (Lucy McInerney)

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        1688
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        Lib. X. Aen: v. 487. Corruit in vulnus: sonitum super arma dedere:/ Et terram hostile moriens petit ore cruento./ usque 500.
        Location
        Bavarian State Library, Munich
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        Brant: Seastorm

          In the top right quadrant of the image, Juno convinces Aeolus, king of the winds, to release the winds onto Aeneas's ships (I 65-80). The winds are depicted as four heads facing in cardinal directions blowing the winds from their mouths. These winds, in a rocky cave, take up the top left quadrant (81-87). Above Aeolus is a small raincloud with a small amount of rain. In the bottom half of the image, one of Aeneas's ships has a broken mast and another has its sails furled, signs that the fleet has endured a storm. There is one larger swell under Aeneas's ship, perhaps remnants of the storm. Neptune is on the left side below the winds, calming the storm (124-156, esp. 125-141). The combination of elements add up to a depiction of the moment just after the storm that occurred in lines 81-94 and 102-123. (Katy Purington)

          Woodcut illustration from the “Strasbourg Vergil,” edited by Sebastian Brant: Publii Virgilii Maronis Opera cum quinque vulgatis commentariis expolitissimisque figuris atque imaginibus nuper per Sebastianum Brant superadditis (Strasbourg: Johannis Grieninger, 1502), fol. 124v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

          Comments

          Sebastian Brant (1458­­–1521) was a humanist scholar of many competencies. Trained in classics and law at the University of Basel, Brant later lectured in jurisprudence there and practiced law in his native city of Strasbourg. While his satirical poem Das Narrenschiff won him considerable standing as a writer, his role in the transmission of Virgil to the Renaissance was at least as important. In 1502 he and Strasbourg printer Johannes Grüninger produced a major edition of Virgil’s works, along with Donatus’ Life and the commentaries of Servius, Landino, and Calderini, with more than two hundred woodcut illustrations (Annabel Patterson).

          In Brant's...illustration, it is again mythology, rather than drama, which predominates to trace a history of the storm from Juno's royal visit to Aeolus's prison of the winds (fig. 12). The winds' grotesque faces peer outward from their womblike cavern (Vergil's "loca feta furentibus Austris") breathing decorative swirls. Rain falls from the clouds in this tempestuous region, but below it, the disturbance to Aeneas's fleet seems minimal. The ships float placidly in a rippled sea with Aeneas's upturned face the only sign of distress (Eleanor Winsor Leach).

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          Eimmart: The sea nymphs come to Aeneas

            Aeneas, standing in the bow of the flagship of his fleet, comes across sea nymphs, the former Trojan ships.

            Aeneas, im Bug des Flaggschiffs einer Flotte stehend, begegnet auf dem Meer den Nymphen, den ehemaligen trojanishcen Schiffen. (Suerbaum)

            Engraving from a German children’s picture-book version of the Aeneid by G. J. Lang and G. C. Eimmart, “A tapestry of Roman virtues as seen in Vergil’s Aeneas and his brave deeds, rendered in sparkling engravings, as illustrations of the remarkable deeds of antiquity, for the common benefit of noble youth,” (Peplus virtutum Romanarum in Aenea Virgiliano eiusque rebus fortiter gestis, ad maiorem antiquitatis et rerum lucem, communi iuventutis sacratae bono, aere renitens) (Nuremburg: J.L. Buggel, 1688), pl. 42.

             

            Comments

            During Aeneas' return trip from Pallanteum, the former fleet of Aeneas approaches him in the middle of the night as sea nymphs. Cymodocea, one of the nymphs, addresses Aeneas and tells him of the fighting that has broken out at Alba Longa. She is likely the nymph in the center of the engraving, with one arm outstretched, as described at lines 225 and 226. (Lucy McInerney)

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            1688
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            21.86x16.92cm
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            Lib. X. Aen. v. 219. Atque illi medio in spatio, chorus ecce suarum./ Occuurrit comitum:/ usque 235.
            Location
            Bavarian State Library, Munich
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            Eimmart: The deaths of Euryalus and Nisus

              A rider (probably Volcens) thrusts his sword into the chest of a falling warrior (probably Euryalus). Some dead bodies lie on the ground and the whole right half of the engraving is filled by riders with bristling spears.

              Ein Reiter (wohl Volcens) stößt einem niedersinkenden Krieger (wohl Euryalus) das Schwert in die Brust: am Boden liegen einige Leichen; die ganze rechte Hälfte des Kupferstichs ist gefüllt von Reitern mit starrenden Lanzen. (Suerbaum)

              Engraving from a German children’s picture-book version of the Aeneid by G. J. Lang and G. C. Eimmart, “A tapestry of Roman virtues as seen in Vergil’s Aeneas and his brave deeds, rendered in sparkling engravings, as illustrations of the remarkable deeds of antiquity, for the common benefit of noble youth,” (Peplus virtutum Romanarum in Aenea Virgiliano eiusque rebus fortiter gestis, ad maiorem antiquitatis et rerum lucem, communi iuventutis sacratae bono, aere renitens) (Nuremburg: J.L. Buggel, 1688), pl. 41.

              Comments

              The action in this scene takes place at night, which is perhaps why the engraving is so dark. Suerbaum identifies the wounded man in the center of the engraving as Euryalus, but it is just as likely to be Nisus, and that Euryalus is the beautiful young man beneath him who is clearly already dead. A helmet sits on the ground in front of him, perhaps the very helmet that gave him away to the enemy at line 373. After witnessing Euryalus’ death at the hands of Volcens, Nisus fights the Rutulian and kills him, but is quickly slain himself. He falls across the body of his dead friend at lines 444-445. (Lucy McInerney)

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              1688
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              Lib . IX. Aen. v. 440. Quem circum glomerati hostes, hinc comminus atque hinc/ Proturbant./ usque 445
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              Bavarian State Library, Munich
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              Eimmart: Berecynthia supplicates Jupiter

                In the clouds of Olympus Berecynthia kneels (with a city crown) pleading before Jupiter (with an eagle); beneath nymphs splash around vessels in the sea.

                In den Wolken des Olymp kniet Berecynthia (mit Mauerkrone) bittend vor Jupiter (mit Adler); unten Schiffe mit im Meer sich tummelnden Nymphen. (Suerbaum)

                Engraving from a German children’s picture-book version of the Aeneid by G. J. Lang and G. C. Eimmart, “A tapestry of Roman virtues as seen in Vergil’s Aeneas and his brave deeds, rendered in sparkling engravings, as illustrations of the remarkable deeds of antiquity, for the common benefit of noble youth,” (Peplus virtutum Romanarum in Aenea Virgiliano eiusque rebus fortiter gestis, ad maiorem antiquitatis et rerum lucem, communi iuventutis sacratae bono, aere renitens) (Nuremburg: J.L. Buggel, 1688), pl. 40.

                Comments

                This engraving depicts a flashback in Book IX when Berecynthia, the mother of the gods, approached Jupiter as Aeneas was building his fleet from timber felled on Mount Ida. She asked that those ships should be saved, as their wood was taken from her favorite mountain grove. What Jupiter points to below their clouds is the ‘present’ moment in Book IX: Turnus has attacked the Trojan fleet and set it alight, but instead of burning the ships have sunk and remerged as sea nymphs. Jupiter wears a crown, as king of the gods, and is accompanied by his eagle, while Berecynthia wears a crown in the shape of a city. This is reference to normal classical depictions of Magna Mater. In the background sit the rest of the gods. From right to left, Neptune is discernible with his triton, Ares by his helmet and spear, Diana with her half moon coronet, and Mercury with his caduceus. (Lucy McInerney)

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                1688
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                21.86x16.92cm
                Inscription
                Lib. IX. Aen: v. 82 Ipsa deum fetur genetrix Berecynthia magnum/ Vocibus his affata Iovem;/ usque 122.
                Location
                Bavarian State Library, Munich
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                Eimmart: Iris urges Turnus to war

                  The winged Iris, sitting on a cloud in front of a rainbow, appears to Turnus on the steps of a palace.

                  Die geflügelte Iris, auf einer Wolke mit Regenbogen gelagert, erscheint dem Turnus auf den Stufen eines Palastes. (Suerbaum)

                  Engraving from a German children’s picture-book version of the Aeneid by G. J. Lang and G. C. Eimmart, “A tapestry of Roman virtues as seen in Vergil’s Aeneas and his brave deeds, rendered in sparkling engravings, as illustrations of the remarkable deeds of antiquity, for the common benefit of noble youth,” (Peplus virtutum Romanarum in Aenea Virgiliano eiusque rebus fortiter gestis, ad maiorem antiquitatis et rerum lucem, communi iuventutis sacratae bono, aere renitens) (Nuremburg: J.L. Buggel, 1688), pl. 39.

                   

                  Comments

                  Iris is, as always, shown with a rainbow and wings. Suerbaum identifies the setting as a palace, but Virgil says that Iris appears to the young man in a valley sacred to his father, “luco tum forte parentis/ Pilumni Turnus sacrata valle sedebat” (IX 3-4). The feet of the statue that can be seen in the upper right hand corner are probably a statue of Pilumnus; the burning offerings and jugs beneath the statue as well as the three-steps and columns seem to point to the setting being a hero shrine. (Lucy McInerney)

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                  1688
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                  21.86x16.92cm
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                  Lib: IX. Aen. v.1. Atque ea diversa penitus dum parte geruntur,/ Irim de caelo misit Saturnia Iuno etc./ usque 15.
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                  Bavarian State Library, Munich
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                  Eimmart: Venus brings Aeneas his armor

                    Venus, floating down from her dove chariot in the clouds, shows Aeneas his new weapons, especially the large shield; a variety of Putti are busy with these weapons.

                    Venus, von ihrem Taubenwagen aus den Wolken niederschwebend, zeigt dem Aeneas die neuen Waffen, vor allem den großen Schild; eine Vielzahl von Putti ist mit diesen Waffen beschäftigt. (Suerbaum)

                    Engraving from a German children’s picture-book version of the Aeneid by G. J. Lang and G. C. Eimmart, “A tapestry of Roman virtues as seen in Vergil’s Aeneas and his brave deeds, rendered in sparkling engravings, as illustrations of the remarkable deeds of antiquity, for the common benefit of noble youth,” (Peplus virtutum Romanarum in Aenea Virgiliano eiusque rebus fortiter gestis, ad maiorem antiquitatis et rerum lucem, communi iuventutis sacratae bono, aere renitens) (Nuremburg: J.L. Buggel, 1688), pl. 38.

                    Comments

                    In the upper left hand corner Venus’ chariot, complete with doves, waits for the goddess, who floats next to her son. The Putti that accompany her are unrelated to the text. They bring forth Aeneas’ new armor. On the shield can be seen the image of the wolf with Romulus and Remus. (Lucy McInerney)

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                    1688
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                    21.86x16.92cm
                    Inscription
                    Lib. VIII. Aen. vi. 608. At Venus aetherios inter dea candida nimbus/ Dona ferens aderat:/ usque 616.
                    Location
                    Bavarian State Library, Munich
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                    Eimmart: Vulcan forges Aeneas' shield

                      Vulcan and three assistants forge a shield for Aeneas on an anvil; more laborers are busy with other work; in the right foreground a variety of Putti are preparing drinks.

                      Vulkan schmiedet mit drei Gehilfen auf einem Amboss den Schild für Aeneas; weitere Gehilfen sind mit anderen Arbeiten beschäftigt; im Vordergrund rechts ist eine Vielzahl von Putti dabei, Getränke vorzubereiten. (Suerbaum)

                      Engraving from a German children’s picture-book version of the Aeneid by G. J. Lang and G. C. Eimmart, “A tapestry of Roman virtues as seen in Vergil’s Aeneas and his brave deeds, rendered in sparkling engravings, as illustrations of the remarkable deeds of antiquity, for the common benefit of noble youth,” (Peplus virtutum Romanarum in Aenea Virgiliano eiusque rebus fortiter gestis, ad maiorem antiquitatis et rerum lucem, communi iuventutis sacratae bono, aere renitens) (Nuremburg: J.L. Buggel, 1688), pl. 37.

                      Comments

                      Vulcan and his workers are in the process of creating the famous shield of Aeneas. It is described as seven layered and strong enough to stand against all the weapons of Latium, “unum omni a contra/ tells Latinorum” (447-8). The forge in the engraving extends in the background into gloomy caves, showing that the setting is deep below Mount Etna. (Lucy McInerney)

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                      1688
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                      21.86x16.92cm
                      Inscription
                      Lib. VIII. Aen. v. 440. Arma acri facienda viro:
                      Location
                      Bavarian State Library, Munich
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