Brant: Dido Receives Aeneas and the Trojans

    On the right, Aeneas and Achates approach Dido (588-94), who has just received the lost men of Aeneas. These men, who include Cloanthus and Ilioneus, unlabeled, stand in the center of the image with a few of Dido's attendants; they stand in front of the Temple of Juno. Behind the temple of Juno, a man drives livestock, possibly a representation of those mentioned in line 633-5 (Nec minus intereā sociīs ad lītora mittit/vīgintī taurōs, magnōrum horrentia centum/terga suum, pinguīs centum cum mātribus agnōs). There appear to be a few oxen and possibly a pig. On the left, men arrive at Aeneas's ships to tell Ascanius the good news (645-6), which is that Dido has welcomed them generously. In the lower left corner is a ship that represents Aeneas's lost ships, the ones led by Cloanthus, Ilioneus and the others. Below Dido and Aeneas is a representation of a city wall. (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. 149r, 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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    Eimmart: the death of Arruns

      Winged Opis floating on a cloud has shot Arruns with an arrow; he has fallen from his horse and is lying on the ground. In the left background a grave monument can be seen, which is mentioned at the beginning of the text passage.

      Die auf einer Wolke schwebende geflügelte Opis hat Arruns mit einem Pfeil erschossen; er ist vom Pferd gestürzt und liegt auf dem Boden. Links im Hintergrund ist ein Grabdenkmal zu sehen, das zu Beginn der Textpassage erwähnt wird. (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. 47.

      Comments

      Having fled Camilla’s death, Arruns is shot down by Opis at Diana’s command. The tomb monument in the upper left hand corner is mentioned at 849-851; the inscription says “Dercenno Laur.”, for Dercennus, king of the Laurentines. Opis wields a bow in the upper right hand corner of the engraving, as appropriate for a follower of Diana, and she looks down scornfully at the fallen Trojan. His companions are galloping away, leaving Arruns do die alone in the dust, as at 864-865. (Lucy McInerney)

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      1688
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      Lib. XI. Aen. v. 850. - - - Fuit ingens monte sub alto/ Regis Dercenni terreno ex aggere bustum/ Antiqui Laurentis, opacaque ilice tectum.
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      Bavarian State Library, Munich
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      Brant: Dido's First Appearance

        In this image, Dido sits on a high throne under the arches of the temple of Juno, with attendants behind her (505-8). According to T.E. Page (1967, 188 ad 505), Dido should be sitting inside the temple but Brant depicts her outside the building. She receives a group of Trojans, led by Cloanthus, Ilioneus, and others (510-11), who got separated from Aeneas in the storm earlier in book I (see I 50-156); the boat full of armed soldiers belongs to them (cunctis...navibus 518). On land near the ships, armed Carthaginians bar the ships from landing in the harbor (540-1). In the background, Aeneas, who is stationed behind the Carthaginian soldiers, but not associated with them, sees his comrades approach Dido (509) and decides to watch and listen to the interaction between them before he makes his presence known (509; 513-19). In Vergil's description, Achates stands with Aeneas, but Brant does not include him in his illustration. The cloud of fog in which Vergil hides Aeneas (516; 587) is also not present. (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. 145v, 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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        Brant: The Mural on Juno's Temple

          Aeneas and Achates, on the right, look at a mural on the walls of Juno's temple (446) at the edge of the city of Carthage. The mural contains vignettes from the Trojan war.

          In the top left panel, Hector pursues some Greek soldiers, an interesting take on the first vignette. Vergil's description includes a depiction of the Greeks in temporary triumph over the Trojans (466-8); Brant puts this image in the second panel rather than the first. According to Servius, Hector is the Trojan youth, "TROIANAE IUVENTUS definitio est Hectoris," (1.467). Thus Brant made Hector the solitary stand-in for the Trojan army.

          The top central panel has two images. The left side shows Automedon, Achilles' charioteer, on horseback, in the midst of soldiers, stabbing someone in the back with his sword. This is odd because neither the Iliad nor the Aeneid has him doing much of the combat fighting, and it does not make sense to show him on a horse. It would make more sense to show Achilles, rather than his charioteer. The right side shows Diomedes killing Rhesus (469-73), with Ulysses leading the horses of Rhesus to the Greek camp. Ulysses (Odysseus) is not included in Vergil's description, though he led the attack on the camp of Rhesus with Diomedes. Here, Brant lets his knowledge of the Iliad and other external sources influence his illustration; the attack on Rhesus takes place in Book 10 of the Iliad.

          In the top right panel, Troilus, the youngest son of Priam, hangs upside down, holding onto his chariot with his knees and holding onto the reins in an attempt to regain control of his horse (475-8). Achilles in his own chariot stabs him in the neck with a sword, a reference to the full event which is commonly found in Archaic art (OCD). The crown of Troilus is shown under the horse of Achilles. With such a limited space, the arrangement of key elements is a bit awkward and forced, but Brant does manage to fit in most of the important details; he does not show Troilus's javelin dragging on the ground, which would be extremely difficult to show with the cramped arrangement.

          In the lower left panel, the Trojan women supplicate a rather small statue of Pallas (479-482); they pray in a standard Christian manner rather than giving gifts and beating their breasts as described by Vergil (480-1). In the text, Pallas is unmoved by the appeals (483), but in the illustration there is no indication of her response.

          In the lower middle panel, the left image, which is partially obscured in this photograph, shows Achilles dragging the body of Hector behind his horse, while Priam is labelled in the background (483-7). In the Iliad, this is a long poignant scene; Vergil devotes 5 lines to the full episode, with the first two lines devoted to Achilles dragging Hector and the last line describing Priam's humiliating attempt to gain back his son's body. On the right, Memnon [Mennon], the king of Ethiopia, lies dead on a funeral bed with birds above him, a reference to a story told in Book 13 of Ovid's Metamorphoses in which Zeus turns the smoke from Memnon's funeral pyre into smoke to appease Memnon's mother. Memnon is mentioned in line 489, but Vergil has him alive with masses of troops. The scene portrayed here comes from the Iliad, rather than the Aeneid.

          In the lower right panel, Penthesilea [Patesilea], with mounted soldiers behind her, spears a soldier in the back, with troops looking on (490-3). It is difficult to tell the gender of any of the soldiers surrounding her, so it is hard to say whether her army is in fact all female, as it should be. (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. 141v-142r, 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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          Brant: In the Forest near Carthage

            Mercury flies toward Carthage to alert Queen Dido of the presence of Aeneas near her city (297-304). The city is walled, at least partially, as described in lines 365-6. Below Mercury and the city, Aeneas has hidden his ship in a harbor surrounded by groves (310-2) and is now setting out to explore the place where he has landed, accompanied by Achates (306-9, 312). He carries two spears (313). Aeneas and Achates encounter Venus disguised as a Spartan virgin huntress (314-20): she carries a hunting bow on her shoulder, ties back flowing long hair, and bares her knees like a follower of Diana (318-20). In lines 321-440, Venus and Aeneas have a long conversation in which Venus informs her son that he has landed in Tyrian territory, ruled by Queen Dido, whose story she gives in some detail (335-370). Then, after hearing her son's story, in which he worries that he is doomed to wander forever (372-385), she assures him that he will settle down someday (387-401). In the image, she gestures to twelve swans, pursued by an eagle of Jupiter, which represent the ships of Aeneas scattered but all destined to survive (393-401). (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. 137v, 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).

            Brant's conventional image of the walled city, in combination with the ships moored by the shore, provides a factual location for the meeting (fig. 13). Emphasis is on promises of Aeneas's future safety, of which the reader knows far more than the hero himself. Above the city appears the figure of Mercury, whom Jupiter has dispatched to create a hospitable welcome for Aeneas in an enemy land. In the foreground is the sign that Venus invokes to raise the spirits of her son: fourteen swans escaping pursuit by an eagle and settling safely on the earth (Eleanor Winsor Leach).

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            Eimmart: the death of Camilla

              Cavalry Battle: Camilla falls from her horse, hit by a spear in the chest, and is caught by her companions; the mounted figure in the middle is obviously another Amazon.

              Reiterschlacht: Camilla sinkt, von einem Speer in die Brust getroffen, vom Pferd und wird von ihren Gefährtinnen aufgefangen; die berittene Figur in der Mitte ist offenbar eine weitere Amazone. (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. 46.

              Comments

              While in pursuit of the Trojan priest Chloreus, Camilla has unknowingly been hunted by Arruns. In this scene Arruns has shot her, and may even be depicted in the left hand background as the man fleeing on a horse. At 804-606 the cowardly Arruns is described as running away before he can be seen or caught by Camilla’s entourage. (Lucy McInerney)

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              1688
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              21.86x16.92cm
              Inscription
              Lib. XI. Aen. v. 804. Concurrunt trepidae comites, dominamque ruentem/ Suscipiunt.
              Location
              Bavarian State Library, Munich
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              Brant: Venus and Jupiter

                In the lower right corner, Venus complains to Jupiter about the hardships suffered by Aeneas and the Trojans and begs him to reaffirm his plan for their destiny (223-53). He does so in lines 254-96. In the upper left, Aeneas sits at a table with two men with something laid out in front of them - possibly venison, since there is a pair of antlers by Aeneas. There is a city in the top right corner, probably Carthage. The rest of the image is filled with rolling hills, healthy trees, and a spring flowing into a stream, which give off a sense of abundance. (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. 133r, 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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                Eimmart: Camilla kills a soldier

                  Camilla lunges at the vanguard of the enemy riders and thrusts her lance in the chest of an unarmored mounted opponent.

                  Camilla stürzt sich an der Spitze ihrer Reiterinnen auf die Feinde und stößt einem ungepanzerten berittenen Gegner die Lanze in die Brust. (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. 45.

                  Comments

                  Camilla takes up almost the entire second half of Book XI. This engraving corresponds to XI 648ff, Camilla’s entrance into the action of the fighting. She carries Diana’s golden quiver, described at 652, and wears a purple cloak (714-715), wielding a javelin in this scene. Behind her are two more of the “Italides,” or daughters of Italy, as they are called at 657. To her left is probably Tarpeia, who is described by Virgil as carrying a bronze axe (656), which can be seen attached to her waist, although here she wields a studded mace. Camilla is in the act of stabbing an opponent, possible Eunaeus, who is described at 666-667 as having an “exposed chest.” (Lucy McInerney)

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                  1688
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                  21.86x16.92cm
                  Inscription
                  Lib. XI. Aen. v. 648. At medias inter caedes exsultat Amazon,/ Unum exserta latus pugnae, pharetrata Camilla.
                  Location
                  Bavarian State Library, Munich
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                  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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                    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.
                      Location
                      Bavarian State Library, Munich
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