Brant: The Wooden Horse II

    In this scene, the Trojans are uncertain what to do with the wooden horse. Below the horse, on either side, a crowd of Trojans ponders what to do with the horse (38). Laocoon, to the right of the horse, hurls his javelin at the horse, in an attempt to discover whether anything might be inside (40-53). Laocoon wears a cap with a crescent, to represent his role as priest of Neptune (201-2). Behind the horse, the Trojans lead a Greek captive, Sinon, to King Priam. Sinon, named in line 79, was left by the Greeks to be captured so he could plant a story with the Trojans (57-76; his tale is 77-144). (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. 159r, 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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    Eimmart: Venus heals Aeneas

      The wounded Aeneas, who has removed his armor, leans on a spear, surrounded by Achates, Mnestheus and (far left) Ascanius, while the doctor Iapyx prepares a bandage, and warriors (front right) look through a drug case. Behind the back of the doctor a hovering Venus approaches with the miraculous healing herb Dictamnum.

      Eine figurenreiche Szene mit mindestens 10 Gestalten im Vordergrund: Der verwundete Aeneas, dem man die Rüstung ausgezogen hat, stützt sich, umgeben von Achates, Mnestheus und (ganz links) Ascanius auf eine Lanze, während der Arzt Iapyx einen Verband vorbereitet und Krieger (vorn rechts) in einem Arznei-Koffer suchen. Hinter dem Rücken des Arztes schwebt die Venus mit dem wundertätigen Heilkraut Dictamnum heran. (Suerbaum)

      Engraving from a German children’s picture-book version of the Aeneid by G. J. Lang and G. C. Eimmart, “A tapestry of Roman virtues as seen in Vergil’s Aeneas and his brave deeds, rendered in sparkling engravings, as illustrations of the remarkable deeds of antiquity, for the common benefit of noble youth,” (Peplus virtutum Romanarum in Aenea Virgiliano eiusque rebus fortiter gestis, ad maiorem antiquitatis et rerum lucem, communi iuventutis sacratae bono, aere renitens) (Nuremburg: J.L. Buggel, 1688), pl. 49.

       

      Comments

      This engraving deals with the scene from lines 383-424, where Aeneas deals with an arrow wound received in battle. Mnestheus, Achates, and Ascanius are all named at 384, the healer Iapyx at 391. Aeneas’ first reaction is to try and cut the arrow out with a sword (389). What follows is a scene in which Aeneas complains, Iulus cries, and Iapyx tries his best to get the arrow head out with a pair of forceps (404). The fighting approaches closer to camp (407-410), which Eimmart illustrates with smoke rising in the background and a group of warriors behind Ascanius preparing to fight again. Finally Venus intervenes to heal her son. In the engraving she is holding the healing plant dittany in her hand as she appears behind Iapyx; she is about to slip the plant into his basin of water. (Lucy McInerney)

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      Inscription
      Lib. XII. Aen. v. 384. Interea Aeneam ‘Mnestheus, et fidus Achates,/ Ascaniusque comes, - -/ usque 422.
      Location
      Bavarian State Library, Munich
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      Brant: The Wooden Horse I

        In this image, the Greeks are setting up the trap of the Trojan Horse. In the foreground, Greek warriors, selected for their strength and courage, climb up into a wooden horse that the Greeks have built (13-20). In the background, to the left, the Greek ships have sailed away to Tenedos to hide, so that the Trojans think they have left (21-25). To the right is the city of Troy, which sets the scene. Outside the city, in the middle ground, a group of Trojans wonder at the abandoned Greek tents (26-8). (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. 156v, 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 Feast of Dido

          In this image, Dido has put on a grand banquet for Aeneas and his men. The feast takes place in the royal banquet hall (631-642). Vergil describes a palace filled with gold and silver wares and purple fabrics (639-42), and though Vergil does not describe the architecture, one might picture spacious marble halls. Instead, Brant sets the scene in the kind of palace that would be most common in 16th-century Germany. Dido's banquet hall has thick brick walls and a small decorative column. Inside the banquet hall, Aeneas and Dido are seated at the head of the table; Bitias, one of Dido's courtiers, is seated to the right of her. To the left of Aeneas is a set of shelves with ancestral trophies, perhaps a representation of the deeds of Dido's ancestors (640-3). The feast is finished and Dido is asking Aeneas to tell his story (752-6). At the foot of the table, Iopas the bard holds a lyre (740-1). Outside the hall, several scenes are shown at once. Ascanius waits in the ship for news (643-6). Achates stands on the shore and calls to Ascanius. Between the boat and Achates, winged Venus flies off with Ascanius. Her son, Eros, stands in the banquet hall disguised as Ascanius, bearing gifts (695-6) and holding two arrows under his arm. Venus has sent Eros in place of Ascanius to awake in Dido's heart a passionate desire for Aeneas (673-88). (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. 151r, 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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          Eimmart: Messapus kills Auletes

            This engraving shows fighting at the altar on which a fire is still burning; next to it a shocked priest stands. A rider misses a king, who has just fallen to the ground, with his lance. (This is probably not a Trojan attacking Latinus, but Messapus killing the Etruscan king Auletes.) Whether the warrior with the ax in his left hand at the altar is Aeneas is not clear.

            Kampfgetümmel am Altar, auf dem noch ein Feuer brennt und neben dem ein entsetzter Priester steht. Ein Reiter verfehlt mit seiner Lanze einen zu Boden gestürzten König nur knapp. (Wahrscheinlich ist das kein Trojaner, der Latinus angreift, sondern Messapus, der den Etrusker Auletes tötet.) Ob der Krieger am Altar mit dem Beil in der Linken Aeneas sein soll, ist nicht klar. (Suerbaum)

            Engraving from a German children’s picture-book version of the Aeneid by G. J. Lang and G. C. Eimmart, “A tapestry of Roman virtues as seen in Vergil’s Aeneas and his brave deeds, rendered in sparkling engravings, as illustrations of the remarkable deeds of antiquity, for the common benefit of noble youth,” (Peplus virtutum Romanarum in Aenea Virgiliano eiusque rebus fortiter gestis, ad maiorem antiquitatis et rerum lucem, communi iuventutis sacratae bono, aere renitens) (Nuremburg: J.L. Buggel, 1688), pl. 48.

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            1688
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            21.86x16.92cm
            Inscription
            Lib. XII. Aen. v. 283. Deripuere aras, it toto turbida caelo/ Tempestas telorum, ac ferreus ingruit imber./ usque 308
            Location
            Bavarian State Library, Munich
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            Brant: Dido Receives Aeneas and the Trojans

              On the right, Aeneas and Achates approach Dido (588-94), who has just received the lost men of Aeneas. These men, who include Cloanthus and Ilioneus, unlabeled, stand in the center of the image with a few of Dido's attendants; they stand in front of the Temple of Juno. Behind the temple of Juno, a man drives livestock, possibly a representation of those mentioned in line 633-5 (Nec minus intereā sociīs ad lītora mittit/vīgintī taurōs, magnōrum horrentia centum/terga suum, pinguīs centum cum mātribus agnōs). There appear to be a few oxen and possibly a pig. On the left, men arrive at Aeneas's ships to tell Ascanius the good news (645-6), which is that Dido has welcomed them generously. In the lower left corner is a ship that represents Aeneas's lost ships, the ones led by Cloanthus, Ilioneus and the others. Below Dido and Aeneas is a representation of a city wall. (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. 149r, 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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              Eimmart: the death of Arruns

                Winged Opis floating on a cloud has shot Arruns with an arrow; he has fallen from his horse and is lying on the ground. In the left background a grave monument can be seen, which is mentioned at the beginning of the text passage.

                Die auf einer Wolke schwebende geflügelte Opis hat Arruns mit einem Pfeil erschossen; er ist vom Pferd gestürzt und liegt auf dem Boden. Links im Hintergrund ist ein Grabdenkmal zu sehen, das zu Beginn der Textpassage erwähnt wird. (Suerbaum)

                Engraving from a German children’s picture-book version of the Aeneid by G. J. Lang and G. C. Eimmart, “A tapestry of Roman virtues as seen in Vergil’s Aeneas and his brave deeds, rendered in sparkling engravings, as illustrations of the remarkable deeds of antiquity, for the common benefit of noble youth,” (Peplus virtutum Romanarum in Aenea Virgiliano eiusque rebus fortiter gestis, ad maiorem antiquitatis et rerum lucem, communi iuventutis sacratae bono, aere renitens) (Nuremburg: J.L. Buggel, 1688), pl. 47.

                Comments

                Having fled Camilla’s death, Arruns is shot down by Opis at Diana’s command. The tomb monument in the upper left hand corner is mentioned at 849-851; the inscription says “Dercenno Laur.”, for Dercennus, king of the Laurentines. Opis wields a bow in the upper right hand corner of the engraving, as appropriate for a follower of Diana, and she looks down scornfully at the fallen Trojan. His companions are galloping away, leaving Arruns do die alone in the dust, as at 864-865. (Lucy McInerney)

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                Lib. XI. Aen. v. 850. - - - Fuit ingens monte sub alto/ Regis Dercenni terreno ex aggere bustum/ Antiqui Laurentis, opacaque ilice tectum.
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                Bavarian State Library, Munich
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                Brant: Dido's First Appearance

                  In this image, Dido sits on a high throne under the arches of the temple of Juno, with attendants behind her (505-8). According to T.E. Page (1967, 188 ad 505), Dido should be sitting inside the temple but Brant depicts her outside the building. She receives a group of Trojans, led by Cloanthus, Ilioneus, and others (510-11), who got separated from Aeneas in the storm earlier in book I (see I 50-156); the boat full of armed soldiers belongs to them (cunctis...navibus 518). On land near the ships, armed Carthaginians bar the ships from landing in the harbor (540-1). In the background, Aeneas, who is stationed behind the Carthaginian soldiers, but not associated with them, sees his comrades approach Dido (509) and decides to watch and listen to the interaction between them before he makes his presence known (509; 513-19). In Vergil's description, Achates stands with Aeneas, but Brant does not include him in his illustration. The cloud of fog in which Vergil hides Aeneas (516; 587) is also not present. (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. 145v, 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 Mural on Juno's Temple

                    Aeneas and Achates, on the right, look at a mural on the walls of Juno's temple (446) at the edge of the city of Carthage. The mural contains vignettes from the Trojan war.

                    In the top left panel, Hector pursues some Greek soldiers, an interesting take on the first vignette. Vergil's description includes a depiction of the Greeks in temporary triumph over the Trojans (466-8); Brant puts this image in the second panel rather than the first. According to Servius, Hector is the Trojan youth, "TROIANAE IUVENTUS definitio est Hectoris," (1.467). Thus Brant made Hector the solitary stand-in for the Trojan army.

                    The top central panel has two images. The left side shows Automedon, Achilles' charioteer, on horseback, in the midst of soldiers, stabbing someone in the back with his sword. This is odd because neither the Iliad nor the Aeneid has him doing much of the combat fighting, and it does not make sense to show him on a horse. It would make more sense to show Achilles, rather than his charioteer. The right side shows Diomedes killing Rhesus (469-73), with Ulysses leading the horses of Rhesus to the Greek camp. Ulysses (Odysseus) is not included in Vergil's description, though he led the attack on the camp of Rhesus with Diomedes. Here, Brant lets his knowledge of the Iliad and other external sources influence his illustration; the attack on Rhesus takes place in Book 10 of the Iliad.

                    In the top right panel, Troilus, the youngest son of Priam, hangs upside down, holding onto his chariot with his knees and holding onto the reins in an attempt to regain control of his horse (475-8). Achilles in his own chariot stabs him in the neck with a sword, a reference to the full event which is commonly found in Archaic art (OCD). The crown of Troilus is shown under the horse of Achilles. With such a limited space, the arrangement of key elements is a bit awkward and forced, but Brant does manage to fit in most of the important details; he does not show Troilus's javelin dragging on the ground, which would be extremely difficult to show with the cramped arrangement.

                    In the lower left panel, the Trojan women supplicate a rather small statue of Pallas (479-482); they pray in a standard Christian manner rather than giving gifts and beating their breasts as described by Vergil (480-1). In the text, Pallas is unmoved by the appeals (483), but in the illustration there is no indication of her response.

                    In the lower middle panel, the left image, which is partially obscured in this photograph, shows Achilles dragging the body of Hector behind his horse, while Priam is labelled in the background (483-7). In the Iliad, this is a long poignant scene; Vergil devotes 5 lines to the full episode, with the first two lines devoted to Achilles dragging Hector and the last line describing Priam's humiliating attempt to gain back his son's body. On the right, Memnon [Mennon], the king of Ethiopia, lies dead on a funeral bed with birds above him, a reference to a story told in Book 13 of Ovid's Metamorphoses in which Zeus turns the smoke from Memnon's funeral pyre into smoke to appease Memnon's mother. Memnon is mentioned in line 489, but Vergil has him alive with masses of troops. The scene portrayed here comes from the Iliad, rather than the Aeneid.

                    In the lower right panel, Penthesilea [Patesilea], with mounted soldiers behind her, spears a soldier in the back, with troops looking on (490-3). It is difficult to tell the gender of any of the soldiers surrounding her, so it is hard to say whether her army is in fact all female, as it should be. (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. 141v-142r, 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 Forest near Carthage

                      Mercury flies toward Carthage to alert Queen Dido of the presence of Aeneas near her city (297-304). The city is walled, at least partially, as described in lines 365-6. Below Mercury and the city, Aeneas has hidden his ship in a harbor surrounded by groves (310-2) and is now setting out to explore the place where he has landed, accompanied by Achates (306-9, 312). He carries two spears (313). Aeneas and Achates encounter Venus disguised as a Spartan virgin huntress (314-20): she carries a hunting bow on her shoulder, ties back flowing long hair, and bares her knees like a follower of Diana (318-20). In lines 321-440, Venus and Aeneas have a long conversation in which Venus informs her son that he has landed in Tyrian territory, ruled by Queen Dido, whose story she gives in some detail (335-370). Then, after hearing her son's story, in which he worries that he is doomed to wander forever (372-385), she assures him that he will settle down someday (387-401). In the image, she gestures to twelve swans, pursued by an eagle of Jupiter, which represent the ships of Aeneas scattered but all destined to survive (393-401). (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. 137v, 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).

                      Brant's conventional image of the walled city, in combination with the ships moored by the shore, provides a factual location for the meeting (fig. 13). Emphasis is on promises of Aeneas's future safety, of which the reader knows far more than the hero himself. Above the city appears the figure of Mercury, whom Jupiter has dispatched to create a hospitable welcome for Aeneas in an enemy land. In the foreground is the sign that Venus invokes to raise the spirits of her son: fourteen swans escaping pursuit by an eagle and settling safely on the earth (Eleanor Winsor Leach).

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