Aeneid

Latinus sits on his throne in front of the gates of war, near the statue of Janus, and with great displeasure he hears the men who have come to his city asking for war (585-90). It is interesting that Turnus is not pictured, since he is instrumental in gathering the men who are rallying in support of the war (577-9). Behind Latinus to the left, Juno opens the gates of war, which are depicted as wooden doors in a giant double arch (601-22). Behind him to the right, men sound the war trumpets (628). In the top right corner, mounted cavalry bear a standard with a symbol of a bird. In the foreground the preparations for war have begun: men hammer out weapons on an anvil (629-36), while another sharpens blades on a grindstone (627). A sword, a pair of greaves and a pair of battle axes lie on the ground, all freshly made (629-36).  (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. 303v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

Allecto, with her fiery wings and snakes for hair, has flown up to the heavens to tell Juno of her success (540-51). Juno, sitting in her throne, turns her face away from Allecto; one hand points at Allecto, and the other points toward the mouth of the underworld, which is positioned directly below Allecto. Her movements may indicate her telling Allecto to stop with her exploits in Italy and to return immediately to the underworld (552-60). The mouth of the underworld, shaped like the head of a dragon, exhales sulfurous fire and smoke, which seems to almost swallow the lower half of Allecto's garment. In the image, the mouth of the underworld is positioned to the right of a small pool, that appears to be rippled by a small amount of disturbance. According to Vergil, this entrance to Dis is located in a cavern in the midst of a torrenting river, in the middle of a dark dense forest (563-70).  (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. 302v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

Ascanius, shown with his bow, has shot a stag (496-9), who was raised by Tyrrhus and his sons and kept as a pet by their sister Silvia (482-92). The stag, with an arrow lodged in his neck, returns home to his owner (500-2). Tyrrhus and his sons, at the bottom of the image, arm to fight the one who killed the stag. Allecto, sitting on top of the barn roof, sounds a curved horn, rousing the country-folk from the surrounding area to attack Ascanius (511-22). Some are armed with farming implements, while others carry weapons of war. Almo [Almon], the eldest son of Tyrrhus, is killed by an arrow, and Galaesus [Galesus] lies next to him (531-9). (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. 300v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

In the upper left, Allecto flies to the city of Ardea (408-13) which sits in the upper right. Within the city, she approaches the sleeping Turnus in a dream, which quickly becomes a nightmare. In the text, she appears first as the priestess of Juno and then takes her true form, in her efforts to goad Turnus to action (415-55). Brant's artist has portrayed her as a hybrid, with the headdress of a priestess but the wings and snakes of the Fury. She holds a torch to Turnus's back, which will cause him to wake from his nightmare (456-9). In the lower left, Turnus stands dressed in full armor with his night robe thrown on the ground behind him (460-2). He tells one of his chief warriors to arm for war (467-70).

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. 299r, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

Allecto, with snakes for hair and wings that appear to be made of fire, stands in the center of the image in front of Amata (341-4), who sits next to Latinus in the palace, while Lavinia stands next to them. Though Allecto is visible to the audience, she is invisible to the mortals in the image. A serpent, one of Allecto's, has curled itself around Amata's neck (345-53). Amata and Latinus both look at Lavinia, to indicate that they are discussing her. Amata pleads with her huband to marry Lavinia to Turnus instead of Aeneas (354-72). In the upper right corner, Amata feigns a Bacchic frenzy and brings Lavinia to the forest to hide her there (385-7). Two other matrons join in the Bacchic frenzy with Amata; one ties up her skirt, while the other holds what is probably supposed to be a thyrsus, a staff wrapped with ivy and vine-leaves and associated with Bacchus (392-6). Amata also carries a thyrsus, though in the text, she holds a blazing pine branch or torch (397-8). (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. 297v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

In the underworld, Juno calls upon Allecto (323-6), who is shown as a middle-aged woman with snakes for hair (329). She sits in a war tent in the mouth of the underworld, which is represented by a dragon-like creature. Allecto's sisters, the Furies (327-8), sit in their cells looking on. Juno gestures to the upper right corner, where Aeneas stands at the top of a tower in the city he is building. She urges Allecto to create chaos and war between the Latins and Trojans (331-40). (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. 296r, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

In the background, Aeneas prepares to break ground on a new city for his people, and three others hold tools necessary for building a city (157-9). In the foreground, Latin youths exercise; two practice their skills in weaponry, while two train their horses (162-5). In the center of the image, on the right-hand side, Ilioneus and King Latinus converse in the palace of Picus, an important ceremonial building. On columns just outside the building stand statues of the famed ancestors of the Latins: two-faced Janus, Sabinus, Saturnus holding a sickle, Italus, and Picus holding a scepter (170-82). Vergil does not include Picus in the list of statues, and instead simply mentions him as the original inhabitant of the palace. Brant's interpretation allows Picus to be a visible part of the palace, and the scepter in his hand illustrates the tradition of kings taking up the scepter in this building.

In the palace room, above the heads of the two men, a plumed helmet and captured arms hung up on the walls indicate the prowess of the city in war (183-6). As for the men themselves, Latinus sits in a modest throne (193), while Ilioneus stands before him with a wreath in his hair, holding out an olive branch as an offering of peace (236-7). Behind Latinus are two horses, which represent the large number of finely caparisoned horses given to the Trojans by Latinus. These horses are shown on the left, and the 100 Trojans who accompanied Ilioneus to the palace are shown riding them (274-9). In the upper left corner of the image, the city of Troy is shown as an island floating on the river. While its presence in the image is unclear, it may represent the model the Trojans would use to build their new city. (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. 292v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

The men of Aeneas's fleet sit down at a table for a feast. Achates and Ascanius sit at the head of the table. The food at the table includes a bowl of what looks like pears, a few pretzels and a couple loaves of bread. Achates and another feaster have taken bites out of their bread. This is an extremely loose interpretation of the scene presented by Vergil. In Vergil's version, the members of Aeneas's party use flattened pieces of bread as tables, and once they eat all the food on their bread-plates, they eat the plates themselves. This fulfills a prophecy made by Aeneas's father, and signals that they have found their new land (107-29). In the background to the right, Aeneas makes a gesture of praise toward the gods (130-47), while an attendant holds a celebratory wreath.

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. 291v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

In the middle of the image, bees swarm a laurel tree, which Latinus and his wife Amata see from the lower right corner; a prophet interprets the sign, that they will be visited by a stranger with an army (59-70). They stand near an altar which is lit with a fire; their daughter Lavinia, standing between her mother and the altar, glances at the altar, a prediction of a further omen which occurs when her hair catches fire. The omen signified that she would have fame, but that she would be the cause of a war for her people (71-80). In the upper right corner, Latinus visits the oracle of Faunus, and lying on the ground on sheepskins, receives the oracle that his daughter must not marry a man of the Latin race (81-106). In the lower left corner, Aeneas's fleet pulls up to the shore along the Tiber (104-6); in the image, they are squeezed in next to the laurel tree, but in the text, they have landed in an entirely different segment of the river.

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. 289v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

In the upper right corner, mourners pay respects to the tomb of Aeneas's nurse, Caieta (1-7). The rest of the upper half of the image shows Circe's island. The sorceress sits spinning wool on a distaff, surrounded by cages of animals. These animals include boars, wolves, a lion, and an animal that is supposed to be a bear but looks more like a sheep (10-20). In the lower right, Aeneas and his men sail past the island with the help of a strong favoring wind from Neptune (21-4). The ship enters the mouth of the Tiber river (25-36), marked as a river by reeds in the bottom right corner.

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. 288r, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.