DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28460#0347
Division A.—School of Nuremberg.—Dilrer.
313
first ancestor represented is Clovis, the first Christian king of France ; then
twenty-seven generations are shown before the line arrives at Frederick
III, who is placed on a level with his wife Leonora of Portugal. From
Frederick the line ascends to Maximilian, who sits on a throne, with the
imperial crown and shield at his feet, wearing the imperial robes and the
order of the Golden Fleece. Two angels support the Austrian arms and
archducal crown over liis head, and twenty-two1 female figures holding
wreaths of bay symbolise his victoxies. On a lower level are Mary of
Burgundy axxcl Joanna of Castile. The line then descends again from
Maximilian to his son Philip, who stands, with the arms of Spain below
his feet, between his children, the Archdukes Charles and Ferdinand and
the Archduchesses Eleanor, Isabella, Mary, and Cathei’ine. Maximilian’s
daughter, the Archduchess Margaret, is placed apart 1. All these princes
ancl princesses, from Mary of Burgundy downwards, hold the pomegranate,
a symbol chosen by Maximilian to represent the sweet fruits of clemency
and honour under a plain and hard exterior.
(3) The flat walls on either side of the central tower are occupied by
the 23 (afterwards 24) historical subjects, 12 1. and 11 (afterwarcls 12) r.
(4) Above the first row of these 1. are placed the first twelve of a series
of fifty-two busts of emperors, kings of Italy and kings of the Romans, from
Julius Csesar to Sigismund, who also occupy the whole of the narrow
outer section of the wall, the front of the base of the outer pair of great
columns, and the front of the entablature suppoi'ted by the small columns
to r. of the gate of Praise.
(5) Above the first row of the historical subjects r. are placed the
first twelve of a coi’responding sei’ies of forty-nine contemporary princes,
connectecl with Maximilian by birth or marriage ; they are represented as
busts accompanied by their armorial beai’ings. The continuation of this
sei’ies occupies the corresponding poi’tions of the r. half of the arch.
(6) On the rouncl towers are placed eleven scenes of the Empei’or’s
pi’ivate life, not in chronological order. A few of these represent definite
events ; the majoi’ity are typical of Maximilian’s various pursuits and
accomplishments. Some spaces were left blank with a view to additions.
The subjects actually represented are the following :—
Left Toiver.—i. According to Stabius, the foundation of the Order of
St. George; perhaps rather the foundation of a church of that order.2
1 This number points to an earlier stage of the scheme for the historical subjects, in
which only twenty-two victories were to be represented.
2 The expianation given by Stabius and Chmelarz (Jahrh. iv, 296) is unsatisfactory,
for the order was founded by a bull of Paul II granted to Frederick III during his
visit to Rome, 24 Dec. 1468, to 9 Jau. 1469, while the woodcut clearly alludes to a
personal act of Maximilian. Dr. Gieblow (Jalirh. xx, 38, 39) explains it as Maxi-
milian’s own entrance into the inner order of spiritual knights, which took place on
11 Nov. 1511. He had assumed the insignia of the order at Antwerp on 28 Oct.
1494, but was then married for the second time. He was free to take the vows on tho
deatli of his wife in 1510. But this does not account for the model of a church, marked
in three places with St. George’s cross, which Maximilian, who weais the imperial robes
and not the distinctive dress of the order, is delivering into the hands of four kneeling
members of the order, two of whom have the tonsnre, while the otliers are lay knights.
Two kneeling women, who hold St. George’s banner and wear a cross on tlieir habit,
represent a female branch of the confraternity, nowhere ment.ionedin the modern litera-
ture on the subject. Dr. Giehlow’s essay, “Beitrage zur Entstehungsgeschichte des
Gebetbuches Kaisers Maximilian I” (Jahrh. xx, 30-112), contains a valuable account
(pp. 36-57) of Maximilian’s relations with the order of St. George, and of the part. which
313
first ancestor represented is Clovis, the first Christian king of France ; then
twenty-seven generations are shown before the line arrives at Frederick
III, who is placed on a level with his wife Leonora of Portugal. From
Frederick the line ascends to Maximilian, who sits on a throne, with the
imperial crown and shield at his feet, wearing the imperial robes and the
order of the Golden Fleece. Two angels support the Austrian arms and
archducal crown over liis head, and twenty-two1 female figures holding
wreaths of bay symbolise his victoxies. On a lower level are Mary of
Burgundy axxcl Joanna of Castile. The line then descends again from
Maximilian to his son Philip, who stands, with the arms of Spain below
his feet, between his children, the Archdukes Charles and Ferdinand and
the Archduchesses Eleanor, Isabella, Mary, and Cathei’ine. Maximilian’s
daughter, the Archduchess Margaret, is placed apart 1. All these princes
ancl princesses, from Mary of Burgundy downwards, hold the pomegranate,
a symbol chosen by Maximilian to represent the sweet fruits of clemency
and honour under a plain and hard exterior.
(3) The flat walls on either side of the central tower are occupied by
the 23 (afterwards 24) historical subjects, 12 1. and 11 (afterwarcls 12) r.
(4) Above the first row of these 1. are placed the first twelve of a series
of fifty-two busts of emperors, kings of Italy and kings of the Romans, from
Julius Csesar to Sigismund, who also occupy the whole of the narrow
outer section of the wall, the front of the base of the outer pair of great
columns, and the front of the entablature suppoi'ted by the small columns
to r. of the gate of Praise.
(5) Above the first row of the historical subjects r. are placed the
first twelve of a coi’responding sei’ies of forty-nine contemporary princes,
connectecl with Maximilian by birth or marriage ; they are represented as
busts accompanied by their armorial beai’ings. The continuation of this
sei’ies occupies the corresponding poi’tions of the r. half of the arch.
(6) On the rouncl towers are placed eleven scenes of the Empei’or’s
pi’ivate life, not in chronological order. A few of these represent definite
events ; the majoi’ity are typical of Maximilian’s various pursuits and
accomplishments. Some spaces were left blank with a view to additions.
The subjects actually represented are the following :—
Left Toiver.—i. According to Stabius, the foundation of the Order of
St. George; perhaps rather the foundation of a church of that order.2
1 This number points to an earlier stage of the scheme for the historical subjects, in
which only twenty-two victories were to be represented.
2 The expianation given by Stabius and Chmelarz (Jahrh. iv, 296) is unsatisfactory,
for the order was founded by a bull of Paul II granted to Frederick III during his
visit to Rome, 24 Dec. 1468, to 9 Jau. 1469, while the woodcut clearly alludes to a
personal act of Maximilian. Dr. Gieblow (Jalirh. xx, 38, 39) explains it as Maxi-
milian’s own entrance into the inner order of spiritual knights, which took place on
11 Nov. 1511. He had assumed the insignia of the order at Antwerp on 28 Oct.
1494, but was then married for the second time. He was free to take the vows on tho
deatli of his wife in 1510. But this does not account for the model of a church, marked
in three places with St. George’s cross, which Maximilian, who weais the imperial robes
and not the distinctive dress of the order, is delivering into the hands of four kneeling
members of the order, two of whom have the tonsnre, while the otliers are lay knights.
Two kneeling women, who hold St. George’s banner and wear a cross on tlieir habit,
represent a female branch of the confraternity, nowhere ment.ionedin the modern litera-
ture on the subject. Dr. Giehlow’s essay, “Beitrage zur Entstehungsgeschichte des
Gebetbuches Kaisers Maximilian I” (Jahrh. xx, 30-112), contains a valuable account
(pp. 36-57) of Maximilian’s relations with the order of St. George, and of the part. which