Vergil

In the upper right corner, Nautes [Nantes] advises Aeneas and Acestes about how to handle the dissent among Aeneas's followers. He advises Aeneas to allow any tired old men and women who are weary of traveling to stay behind in Sicily, and found a city under the protection of Acestes (704-18). In the upper left, sleeping Aeneas receives advice from a vision of his father Anchises. Anchises agrees with Nautes, and then advises Aeneas to stop at Avernus for a journey to the underworld before heading to Latium (721-40). The city of Acesta is shown to the left of the leaders, having been marked out, and apparently built, by Aeneas before he begins his preparations to continue to Latium (755-8). In the center of the image, a few women, some old men and an injured man represent the people who will stay behind in Acesta (750-1). In the lower right, a fully repaired ship represents the Trojan fleet, which Aeneas's remaining men have repaired (752-3). On the left, at the top of Mount Eryx, here no more than a hill, a new temple to Venus has been founded, labeled here as Veneris Erucine (759-60). (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. 248r, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

In the upper middle of the image, the goddess Iris stands on a rainbow, one of her attributes; she appears to be leaving the scene of a turmoil that Juno inspired her to create among the Trojan women (604-620). These women, in the foreground, have set fire to some ships (654-62); they have built several fires on the shore in order to light their torches. In the midst of the women, Iris, disguised as one of them, but distinguished by a glowing halo, holds two torches. One woman, Pyrgo, attempts to persuade the others that their antagonist is an immortal sent for mischief, but the rest do not listen to her (644-53). The two ships drawn to represent the fleet are broken, and are nearly engulfed in flames. Behind the women, to the left of Iris, Aeneas hurries down a hill to the shore, having been alerted of the trouble by Eumelus (664-6), who is probably the distressed young man to the right of Aeneas. King Achates, unlabeled, accompanies them. Ascanius also races to the camp on his horse, followed by some of his troops from the Trojan games, which have just been finished (667-9; 673-5). (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. 245r, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

Epytides [Epitites] turns the attention of Aeneas and the others toward an exhibition performed by Ascanius and the other youngsters travelling with the Trojans. They march in varying arrangements of troops, lines and columns around the field, showing off their riding skills and also their dexterity with spears and lances. The finale of their show is an intricately maneuvered mock battle, composed of clashing and retreating companies. The leaders of the three troops are Ascanius, Atys, and Polites [Priamus], a descendant of Priam (563-72). (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. 243v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

In the center of the image, a dove is tied to a pole made from the broken mast of Serestus' ship. On the right, Hippocoon, Mnestheus, Eurytion [labeled as Pandarus] and Acestes try to shoot down the dove. Though Vergil gives all four archers proper bows, the artists gives only Hippocoon an archery style bow, while the rest hold crossbows. Hippocoon's arrow has stuck in the mast directly below the place where the bird is tied onto the pole (502-6). Mnestheus is poised to shoot; his arrow will sever the rope tying the bird to the pole (507-12). Erytion, who will then shoot the bird, is shown kneeling, directly in front of the pole, loading his crossbow (513-6). Between Erytion and Mnestheus, Acestes prepares to shoot his arrow up into the air, for show, since the prize has been won by Erytion. His loosed arrow is shown in the upper left corner, marked as an omen by rays of sun through the clouds; in Vergil, the arrow also catches fire (519-28). A crowd of onlookers, including Aeneas, stands to the left of the mast. The woman standing closest to the mast holds a vessel, which will be presented to Acestes as a prize at the end of the contest.  (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. 242v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

Entellus and Dares fight each other with clubs. It is apparent that the person who made this image had never seen a boxing match, and set this up as a cudgel duel. The swords of the participants have been laid aside as they take up clubs to fight each other. Aeneas, Ascanius and Achates cheer on Dares, while Acestes and a few attendants encourage Entellus. Lying in front of the boxers is a club which appears to have a human head attached to one end. The head is bearded with fairly long hair, and a crown lies near it; it appears to be the head of a defeated king, but it is unclear what this head symbolizes. (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. 240r, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

In the upper right corner, Achates, Aeneas, Acestes and another labelled person, likely Ascanius, stand with their followers next to a large fountain watching a foot race. To the left of the fountain, prizes have been laid out for the contestants; there is a horse with full trappings for the winner, a set of Thracian arrows for the second place, and an Argive helmet for the third place (303-14). A lion skin, awarded to Salius (351-2), and a shield, awarded to Nisus (353-61), are displayed among the prizes. Virgil has the race take place in a valley, the shape of a theatre (286-9), but Brant has it take place in a fenced-off portion of a field very close to a building that might be the palace of Acestes. The contestants, in the lower half of the image, run toward a marker on the fence, which, inexplicably, is shown here as a human arm nailed to a post. Euryalus, in the lead, touches the marker first. Close behind him is Helymus. Salius would be third, but Nisus [Nysus], who has fallen on the ground, reaches out his leg to trip Salius. He does this to help Euryalus, his lover, gain first place. Diores, shown in last place here, will soon pass the fallen runners to take third. (318-39) (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. 238v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

In this image, Aeneas awards prizes to the participants of the boat race. At the bottom of the image, a man herds three bullocks toward the ships (247). In the middle of the image, Aeneas places a crown of laurel on Cloanthus, the winner of the boat race (245-6); a boy hands Cloanthus his prize, a richly embroidered cloak (250-7). Above this and to the left, Aeneas, with the help of two slaves, presents the second place winner, Mnesthus [Mnesche] with what is supposed to be a coat of mail (258-65), rendered entirely in cross-hatching, and thus barely visible. To the right of this scene, a man presents a set of cauldrons and bowls to Gyas, who came in third (266-7). On the right, Sergestus brings his broken ship into the harbor holding a single oar, and a slave woman with twin boys standing on the shore is his prize (268-85). In the lower right, Menetes, the pilot of Cloanthus, who got knocked off the ship by the impatient Cloanthus, has swam to shore and now sits coughing up water (178-80). (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. 237v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

Four of Aeneas's crews compete in a ship race. On the right, prizes are displayed in a fenced-off area; these prizes include a chest of silver or gold, an ornate tripod table, and a pile of armor. Behind the prizes, Aeneas, Acestes and a crowd of Trojans and Dardans stand cheering on the contestants. At the bottom left of the image, Mnesthus sits at the helm of the Pristis [Pystris], by all appearances, in the lead in this race. Behind him, Cloanthus commands the Scylla; he is in second place, and looking for first place. He looks to the heavens and calls on the gods for aid; hearing his vows, Portunus and Phorcus push the ship from behind (233-43). In third place is the Chimera, with Gyas in command. They have lost their early lead due to the timidness of Moenetes, who did not dare to sail close to the shore for fear of rocks. Therefore, Gyas pushes Moenetes off the ship, taking his oar and steering the vessel himself (159-77). Sergestus, commanding the Centaur, has steered his ship too close to the rocks in pursuit of the win, and has crashed into some large rocks (202-9). In the upper left corner, there is an ilex (oak) branch placed on a rock; this rock represents the halfway point, at which the ships must turn back toward the shore. (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. 234r, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

Aeneas and his followers have landed at Dardanus in Sicily, the burial place of Anchises. Aeneas, Ascanius, Acestes and Achates, wearing garlands of myrtle (72-4), stand by the shrine of Anchises. A priest stands next to them. A very mature Ascanius pours a liquid offering onto the altar. There are five goblets shown, though Vergil describes six: two hold unmixed wine, two hold fresh milk, and two hold the blood of the two oxen that lie dead to the right of the tomb (Hīc duo rīte merō lībāns carchēsia Bacchō fundit humī, duo lacte novō, duo sanguine sacrō, purpureōsque iacit flōrēs ac tālia fātur 77-8). Flowers have been scattered around the edges of the tomb (79). A large serpent rises up in front of the tomb, and, stretching across it, sticks its tongue out to taste the liquid offerings (84-9). (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. 232r, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.

Aeneas and his fleet sail away from Carthage, while behind them the pyre on which Dido has committed suicide burns with high flames (1-4). Dido lies naked among the flames. In the top left corner, a storm rages (8-16), which has forced the fleet of Aeneas to change course (17-23) and sail to the land ruled by Acestes, a fellow Trojan (23-34). Palinurus, the helmsman, stands in the crow's nest of Aeneas's ship, shouting down to Aeneas below (12-25); Brant makes him a lookout, when he is meant to be steering the ship. On the left, below the storm, King Acestes greets the first of the Trojan ships landing on his shores (35-41). (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. 230v, executed by an anonymous engraver under the direction of Brant.