Vergil

In this image, the Latins bury their dead. The number of indistinguishable dead was so great that the Latins burned them all on one large pyre and then buried the ashes and bones under a large mound of earth right where the pyre had been (203-12). In the upper left, an envoy sent to Diomedes for help has come back bringing a refusal from Diomedes (225-30). In the upper right, Latinus, sitting among grieving citizens outside Laurentum, hears the news and is struck with unbearable grief himself (231).

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. 375v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

The corpse of Pallas has arrived at Pallanteum. On the right stand the Trojan soldiers who brought Pallas back to Pallanteum (145-6). On the left, near the gates of the city, two Arcadians, wearing ceremonial hooded robes hold funeral torches (142-4). They stand in front of several of the matrons of Pallanteum (146-7). In the center, King Evander kneels at the bier that bears Pallas and gives a mournful speech, in which he asks Aeneas to avenge the death of Pallas by killing Turnus (148-81). It is worth noting that this scene happens at night.

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. 373v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

Aeneas, Tarchon, and Ascanius stand with other soldiers to the right of a pyre for the cremation of the Trojan and Etruscan dead. According to Vergil, multiple pyres would have been built, so that the various clans could cremate their dead separately (184-7), but for the sake of illustration, just one pyre is shown. In the upper right are the horses that ceremonially circle the pyre (188-90). In the upper left, a man on horseback sounds a horn in mourning. Below him, a man throws a breastplate, Latin spoils, onto the fire (193-4). Another throws into the fire a sword, and what seems to be a spur, war equipment of the dead (195-6). At the bottom of the image, pigs and cattle have been sacrificed, disemboweled, as offerings to Death and to the gods (197-9).

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. 374v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

The Latins have come to Aeneas to request permission to properly bury their dead (100-5), who lie sprawled at the bottom of the image. Aeneas gives it willingly (106-7). He suggests making peace (108-19), and Drances agrees to bear the request back to the Latin city (122-31). In the twelve-day truce that follows, the Teucrians and Latins work together to bury the dead (132-8). Some men chop down trees to make pyres and others transport the dead in horse-drawn carts.

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. 372v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

In the center of the image is the bier of Pallas. Here it is constructed out of wood rather than Vergil's wicker, arbutus (strawberry tree) shoots, and oak branches (64-6), though Brant alludes to these elements by having oak leaves and sprigs of arbutus. On top of Pallas's bier, to the left of the leaves is draped one of two elaborately embroidered robes which Dido gave to Aeneas, and which Aeneas now uses as a shroud for Pallas's coffin (72-7). The bier is pulled by a pair of horses. In the upper right, Aethon, Pallas's war horse (89-90) is part of the procession that accompanies Pallas back to Pallanteum, along with a wagon of spoils and an array of Tuscan, Teucrian, and Arcadian cavalry and infantry holding their spears upside down in mourning (92-4). Acoetes, who is labeled here and in Brant's version of the text as Acestes, rides in front of the cavalry, helped along by two men (85-7). The war prisoners mentioned by Vergil, sent by Aeneas as sacrifices, (81-4) are not shown, possibly for moral reasons. Aeneas watches from inside the city as the train leaves for Pallanteum (94-99).

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. 371r, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

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.