Brant: In the Underworld V

    Aeneas and the Sibyl reach the Fields of the Warriors. At the top of the image, from right to left, Idaeus, Priam's charioteer (Page 489, note 485), drives his chariot (485); the three sons of Antenor ride in it (483-4). Tydeus, Parthenopaeus and Adrastus stand to their right (479-80). In the lower half of the image, to the right, Agamemnon and some of his warriors are shown running from Aeneas (489-93). Among these warriors, the two most famous members of his army, Ulysses and Menelaus, are present, even though their presence is not mentioned by Vergil and, strictly speaking, anachronistic. In front of Aeneas sits Deiphobus, the second Trojan husband of Helen, disfigured almost beyond recognition. He explains to Aeneas that Helen led Menelaus and his men directly to where he was sleeping and they killed him brutally (494-534). The river Styx flows through the very bottom of the image.

    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. 272r, 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 Underworld IV

      Aeneas and the Sibyl stand in the jaws of a monster that represents Hell and look on some of the many regions of the underworld. Brant represents these regions as islands in a river. The island closest to Aeneas is the island of infants [Infantes], which is home to several infants ranging from newborn to a few years old (426-9). A few of the infants have rattles, while another is wrapped up and lies in a cradle. Brant also includes a young woman, perhaps a victim of childbirth. Next is the island of the Condemned Innocents [Innocentes Danati], over whom Minos presides in order to hand them their final judgements (430-3). Nearby is the island of men who, condemned falsely, committed suicide [Conscientes Sibi Morte] (434-9). Though Vergil does not mention anyone by name, Brant has included three famous examples: Cato, Socrates and Mythridates. 

      The final island, the Mourning Fields [Lugentes Campi] is populated with women who died for love. Each woman is depicted with either her method of death or her reason for it. Phaedra, who fell in love with her step-son Hippolytus, reaches toward the tree on which she hanged herself. Procris is shown with a spear in her back; she accidentally startled her husband while watching him. Eriphyle is shown convincing her husband Amphiaraus to go to war; her son killed her when he learned that Amphiaraus had died in the war. Evadne stands next to the funeral pyre of her husband; she killed herself by jumping onto the pyre. Pasiphae holds the horns of the bull she loved; she died in prison for coupling with him. Laodamia chose to follow her husband back to the underworld after he was allowed to visit her. Caeneus was originally the maiden Caenis, whom Neptune turned into a man as she requested after he raped her; after death, Caeneus was turned back into a woman. Dido kneels with a sword in her breast. (440-51; Page note 445ff) Brant does not include the interaction between Aeneas and Dido (451-76), which was the reason Vergil focused so heavily on the Mourning Fields.

      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. 270r, 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 Underworld III

        On the left, Aeneas, standing next to the ferry of Charon, shows the golden bough to the ferryman, as proof that he has permission to enter the depths of the underworld; in Vergil, the Sibyl holds the bough (406-10). Charon prepares to ferry Aeneas and the Sibyl across the Styx (407-16). The water is marshy (414-6), which is indicated by the cattails. In the middle of the image the three-headed dog Cerberus growls from its cave, where it guards the entrance to the deeper underworld (417-25). In the upper right, shades are crowded inside the fiery jaws of Hell, which is depicted as a monstrous head. It is interesting to note that the design of the monster is entirely different from the depiction of the same monster in the previous image. On a spit of land between the two primary rivers, more souls sit despairing; these may be the shades whom Charon displaced from his boat in order to carry Aeneas and the Sibyl (411-3).

        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. 268v, 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 Underworld II

          Aeneas and the Sibyl, in the top right corner, approach the shores of the Cocytus river. The shades of the recently dead pour out from the jaws of a reptilian monster that signifies the entrance to the underworld. The right side of the monster is engulfed in flames. At the top center above and behind the head are two minute figures whose purpose is unclear, but the message seems sinister; a human figure in white is assaulted by a shadowy figure with a tail. Below the monster, a spring pouring out of a rocky cave is the source of the Acheron, Cocytus and Styx rivers (295-7); the latter two are split by a large delta. At the shores of the Cocytus, the river on the right, the shades wait to pass into the deeper realms of the underworld (305-16). In the lower left, Charon, with his garment knotted at his waist instead of his shoulder, ferries a handful of shades across the Styx (298-301). Palinurus, Aeneas' helmsman who fell to his death from the stern of the ship, approaches Aeneas and begs him to return to the shore where his body has washed up and give him a proper burial (337-83). The Sibyl promises him a proper tomb, but not by the men of Aeneas (377-81).

          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. 265v, 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 Underworld I

            Aeneas and the Sibyl enter the underworld (268-94). They stand in front of a grove of trees in the upper left corner; while Vergil compares the entrance to an entrance court with marble columns (268-9), Brant makes the entrance through a forest, which makes the scene a bit darker. The face on the crescent moon may represent Night. In the lower right corner, the Eumenides sit in their "ferrei thalami" (280), a round structure made of iron with three rooms, which has flames and a person spilling out the top. The structure sits in the mouth of an enormous monster, which takes up much of the right half of the image. The monster appears to represents Hell itself, and the Eumenides sit within the jaws of Hell. The monster's giant nostrils, expelling small flames, are located above the structure, and an eye can be seen to the right of the nostrils, at the edge of the image. Discordia, with snakes for hair (280-1), sits in a war tent directly above the monster.

            In the lower left, a set of unlabeled figures represent the afflictions that reside at the threshold of the underworld; they include Famine, Sleep, and Distress (273-9). In the center of the image stands Briareus [Bryareus], the hundred-handed titan (287), shown here with about 10 hands. To his right, three centaurs (286) stand on the tongue of the monster. To the left, above Briareus' largest hand, is the Hydra, the many-headed serpent from Lerna (287). The Chimaera, a lion-like beast, breathes fire (288) toward Aeneas, who draws his sword in an instinct of self defense (290-4). To the right of the Chimaera, three Gorgons (289) share a head, whether from confusion with Geryon or from extreme economy of space. Next to them sit three Harpies, bird creatures with the heads of women (288). To their right, Geryon is shown with three torsos, connecting at the shoulders and hips (288).  In the upper right corner, the background of the image, armed figures represent further shades to come.

            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. 264r, 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: Avernus

              Aeneas performs sacrifices at the entrance to the underworld at Lake Avernus, which is shown as a circular chasm, shaped a bit like a well, with flame-like vapor pouring out of it (237-42). The Sibyl pours wine on the head of one of two oxen, holding the head of a third; these oxen are a sacrifice to Hecate (243-9). Aeneas slits the throat of a sheep as an offering to Night (249-51); in the text, he sacrifices a barren heifer for Proserpine (251), but in the image, the task is given to Achates, who has shed his armor for the occasion. An altar burns with the leg of a bull for Hades (252-4). Aeneas performs these sacrifices in order to be allowed passage into the underworld. (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. 262v, 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: Preparation for the Funeral of Misenus

                The men of Aeneas prepare a funeral for Misenus (156-235), while in the upper right corner, Aeneas and Achates enter the grove to seek the golden bough that Aeneas needs in order to enter the underworld (183-211). Men cut down trees and chop logs to build a funeral pyre for the tomb of their comrade (176-84). Another digs a grave. There are multiple piles of chopped wood, so it is not immediately clear which one is intended as the funeral pyre. It would make sense that the lit fire would be the pyre, but the one next to it is surrounded by foliage, which is mentioned by Vergil in line 215. In the lower left, a cauldron of water is warmed in order to wash and anoint the body (218-9). Corynaeus [Chorineus] stands in the upper left corner, next to the grave, ready to collect the bones from the funeral pyre and place them in an urn (228). The oar and trumpet of Misenus lie on top of the tomb lid, ready to be placed in the tomb with the urn (232-6). (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. 260r, 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: Misenus

                  Aeneas, accompanied by Achates, asks the Sibyl for help in reaching the underworld to visit his father (103-23). The Sibyl advises Aeneas of the steps he must take if he wishes to visit the underworld (124-55). She gestures toward a grove, at the right edge of the image, that contains a golden bough sacred to Proserpina, which a worthy man must break off to present to her when he reaches the underworld (136-48). To the left, the body of Misenus is carried in a ship toward the beach by a few of Aeneas's men (156-74). Aeneas must bury Misenus before he may descend to the underworld (149-53). (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. 257v, 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 Temple of Apollo at Cumae

                    While Achates is sent to find the Cumaean Sibyl (34-5), Aeneas and two attendants approach the Temple of Apollo (9-13). In Vergil's description, the temple, built by Daedalus, has intricately decorated doors that tell the myth of the Minotaur (14-34), but since it is very difficult to fit that much detail on a set of doors in an image this size, the illustrators chose to show the scenes as a mural on the walls of the temple, similar to Juno's temple in Carthage (I 441-493). The scenes have been illustrated generally from right to left.

                    To the right of the door, in the lower right panel, the Minoan prince Androgeos is killed by an Athenian (20). In the panel to the left of it, several Athenians stand with arms drawn, apparently preparing for a fight, though it would be more accurate to depict them drawing lots, not swords, in order to be sent to Crete as tributes (20-2). In the upper right panel, Pasiphae stands next to a bull and lifts her skirt, a chaste rendering of the scene described by Vergil (24-5). In the upper left, the Minotaur, son of Pasiphae and the bull, who is depicted as much more bull than human, appears to hold a defeated victim in his mouth; an armed warrior, probably Theseus, prepares to fight the beast (25-30).

                    These are the only four scenes described by Vergil, who interrupts Aeneas's perusal of the artwork when the Sibyl arrives (34-5), but since he explicitly states that the rest of the myth is depicted (33-4), the illustrators finish the myth in four more panels to the left of the door. In the upper right panel, Theseus arrives home in Athens after slaying the Minotaur; King Aegeus, who thinks Theseus has died, prepares to throw himself off a cliff. In the upper left panel, Daedalus and Icarus are locked in the Labyrinth with little hope of escaping. In the lower right panel, Daedalus and Icarus escape the Labyrinth with bronze wings that Daedalus has created; Icarus appears to be flying upward, a prediction of his mistake in flying too close to the sun. The death of Icarus is not portrayed, because according to Vergil, it was too painful for Daedalus to carve (30-2). Instead, the fourth panel, in the lower left, depicts Daedalus, who has finally arrived safely on land at Cumae, consecrating a shrine to Apollo [Sol], and giving the bronze wings as the first dedication at the shrine (18-9).  (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. 253r, 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: Farewell to Sicily

                      Aeneas and the followers who have agreed to continue the journey to Latium with him bid farewell to those who have decided to stay behind in the newly founded city of Acesta (765-71). A ship on the left side of the image, with a gang-plank leading from it to the shore, indicates the imminent departure of the Trojans. On the right, Venus entreats Neptune to ensure the safe travels of Aeneas (779-98); Neptune assures Venus that he will protect Aeneas and his crew. Neptune stands facing Venus, with his back to the front of his chariot (799-815). Behind his chariot, near the shore, two sea creatures, perhaps the artist's attempt at depicting whales, make up his retinue of followers (816-26).  (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. 249v, 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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                      1502
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