Brant: In the Underworld VII

Aeneas and the Sibyl look upon the Groves of the Fortunate, in Elysium. They watch as, in the center of the image, a pair of men wrestle, a couple dances and another couple sings, reading from a scroll of lyrics (642-4). In the lower left corner, Orpheus plays his lyre (645-7). Next to him, Ilus, grandfather of Priam, Assaracus, grandfather of Anchises, and Dardanus, founder of Troy (Page 499, note 650), stand talking amongst themselves (648-50). In the lower right corner are depicted the arms, carriages, and horses that belong to the shades. The three carriages look a bit odd, like miniature houses on wheels. There are crossbows on the ground next to the carriages, and above the carriages, their spears are propped up against a fence. Their horses, which are supposed to running free and unyoked, are tied to the fencepost of the same fence (651-5). On a small island in the upper corner, a group of shades feast and play music in front of a grove of trees (656-9). The river running around the island is the Eridanus (659). Aeneas and the Sibyl stand talking to Musaeus, a great poet and musician of legend, who directs them toward Anchises (666-78).

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. 204r, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.