Aeneid

Trojans and other allies of Aeneas stand outside Troy around the bier of Pallas, in mourning (34-5). The man to the farthest left of the mourners may be Acoestes, charged with the task of guarding the youth's body before it can be transported back to Evander (33-4). Pallas lies on an elaborately embroidered bier, whereas in the text, a bier is made for him out of wicker, with a canopy of branches, in lines 64-6. He is laid out in his armor, which still has a giant gash showing the point on his chest where the spear of Mezentius killed him (40-1). Aeneas, who for some reason is shown on horseback, gives a short but moving eulogy (42-58) before preparing to send Pallas back to Evander for a proper burial.

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. 370v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

Aeneas erects a trophy dedicating the spoils of Mezentius to Mars. He hangs the armor, helmet and weapons of Mezentius on the fresh stump of a large oak tree (5-11). In the text, he arranges the full array to look like it would on a warrior such as Mezentius, but here they are simply hung on the various branches in no particular pattern. Aeneas then makes a speech to his soldiers, encouraging them to stay strong in the coming battles (14-28). He also prepares to bury the unburied bodies of the men who died in battle on the previous day (22-5).

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. 369r, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

In the top half of the image, Aeneas has injured Mezentius in the groin and Mezentius has fallen (783-95). Lausus, son of Mezentius, fearing that Aeneas will kill his father, challenges Aeneas himself (796-802). Aeneas prepares to drive his sword into the youth's abdomen (810-20). In the lower half of the image, Mezentius challenges Aeneas to a duel on horseback (873). Aeneas first weakens Mezentius with repeated spear wounds (874-87), and then throws his spear at Mezentius's horse, Rhoebus (888-94).

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. 366r, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

Mezentius rampages against the Trojans and their allies, killing many men (689-746). Three men lie dead or dying. One crawls to safety, injured. Mezentius faces off against four more adversaries, who will likely die soon. The weapons wielded by the soldiers in the image are representative of the kinds of weapons used by the soldiers fighting with and against Aeneas: swords, bows and spears. However, the particular weapons belong in the 15th century.

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. 364v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

On the right, Juno, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, asks Jupiter for permission to intervene in order to keep Turnus safe (611-28). In the upper right, Turnus pursues a misty form with Juno in the center of it, thinking the form is Aeneas (635-52). In the center of the image, Turnus has boarded a ship in pursuit of Aeneas (653-8). Juno unties the ropes that moor the ship to the shore (659-60), and sends Turnus out to sea (665), back home to his city, Ardea, which is shown in the top left corner (687-8). Turnus is visibly upset to be returning home like a coward (666-84).

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. 362v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

In the upper right, King Latinus sits while grieving among grieving citizens in front of the city of Laurentum. In the foreground, men move the ashes and bones from a funeral pyre into containers. In the upper left, there are troops. It appears this image was mistakenly printed here, as well as in its intended place (XI 203-242), instead of what should be an image of Aeneas's rampage (510-542).

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. 360v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

On the shore of Troy, Turnus has started a battle against Aeneas (308-425). The battle is gruesome, as represented by the brutally beheaded figure in the foreground. In the upper middle of the image, Pallas and Lausus fight briefly without incident on either side (431-8). Juturna, Turnus's nymph sister, brings Turnus to aid Lausus (439-40). Turnus stabs Pallas in the chest with his spear (479-87). In the text, Pallas manages to wound Turnus with his spear before Turnus kills Pallas (474).

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. 358v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

This image is a duplicate of "Two Ships in a River before a City", but it is used here to represent a different part of the text. In this scene, Aeneas and his new crews approach the shore near the new city of Troy and prepare to land their ships up onto the beach (287-302). Tarchon, the leader of the Etruscan troops, gives the commands, though he is not depicted in the image (290-307).

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. 355v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

Three nymphs, from Aeneas's recently transformed fleet, approach Aeneas in his ship (219-24). The three nymphs share the tasks which Virgil assigns to the one nymph, Cymodocea (225). The nymph on the left stops the ship with a touch of her finger to the front (226), the one in the middle informs Aeneas of what has happened in his city while he was away (228-45), and the one on the right, gives the ship a push to speed it along to its destination. Aeneas, who for some reason is labeled here as Aeneas Rex, King Aeneas, looks to the sky in a prayer of thanks to Cybele, the goddess who sent the nymphs to him (251-4). In this illustration, it appears that Aeneas's men are awake and have heard what the nymphs have to say, though the text implies that Aeneas is the only man awake, at least on his ship (217-8).

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. 354v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

Two ships sail in front of a city that in this instance is probably Aeneas' Troy. In the ship on the left, Massicus holds a flag with an image of a tiger; in Vergil, the Tiger is actually the name of his ship (166). On the right is Abas, holding a flag with an image of Apollo, which, in Vergil's description, is the figurehead on his ship (170-1). Both Massicus and Abas are shown in their ships surrounded by some of the soldiers under their command (166-74). Aeneas is shown in Massicus's ship simply to identify the ships as his allies, though he would have sailed in his own ship. The two generals and their soldiers are a small portion of the people gathered from around the Etruscan region to support Aeneas in his war against Turnus (163-214)

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. 352v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.