DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28460#0352
318
Ecirly German ancl Flemish Woodcuts.—Part 11.
Giehlow attributes much of the cletail 011 the 1. side, especially the child
with armour, the man holding the garland, the ape, the griflin with
St. Andrew’s cross, Frederick III, and the group of drummer, trumpeter,
and standard-bearer, to Hans Diirer.
(b) The outer pair of large coluums, with the lavish ornament at the base,
the statues of SS. Arnolph and Leopold, Albrecht II (from whom Albreeht I
is copied) and the griflin with flint ancl steel: also the griffins over the inner
pair of columns, and the groups of figures above the griffins on the r. side.
(c) Portions of the ornamental terminations of the wide spaces of wall
on either sicle of the central tower. These, however, in the main, like the
whole of the decoration of the central cupola and the two archdukes on
the bases of the central columns, show Dtirer’s design at second hand.
(d) The fifth scene of Maximilian’s private life on the 1. round tower.
(e) The second (in the original edition), fifteenth, twenty-second, and
twenty-third historical subjects.
(/) The half-length figure of the Archduchess Margaret, the head of
the Archduke Ferdinand, ancl that of the first Archduchess in the pedi-
gree. These are drawn on separate pieces of wood inserted in the block,
the rest of which was designed by Springinklee.
(g) Tlie busts of six emperors, from Constantine to Honorius, and
among the kinsmen on the r. side the head of Ludwig, King of Hungary.
The ouly drawings for the arch known to exist are a first sketch for Kiug Philip in
the pedigree, in the Diirer MS. at Dresden; a sketch [83 x 75] for the griffin with flint
and stee), facing 1., in vol. iv of the Diirer MSS. in the British Muscum (5231, fol. 91b);
and a hasty pen-and-ink sketch for the angel who holds the crown over tlie central gate-
way (ibid. fol. 99b; reproduced in Conway’s “ Literary Eemains of A. Diirer,” p. 278,
mcntioned by Lange and Puhse, p. 266). A water-colour design for the hierogiyphic
mystery, not by Diirer himself, is preserved in MS. 3255 in the Hofbibliothek, Yienna.1
The Engravee.
The blocks were cut by llieronymus Andreii, or Rescb, of Nuremberg (d. 7 May,
1556), as we learn from Neudorfer and other contemporary sources.2 It seems incredibie
that he should have cut the whole wflth his own hand, but if he employed assistants, he
doubtless, like Jost de Negker, gave finishing touches to their work, to ensure a uniform
appearance. Neudorfer praises especially his skill in cutting letters. Ilis mark, which
might be described as a combination of three Z’s, or as a triangle of which every side is
produced and then bent at an acute angle to the rigbt,3 is found on almostall tlie blocks
belonging to the original edition. He seems to have begun the work early in 1515 and
to have completed it, with the possible exception of the pedigree, by April, 1517.
LIistory of the Blocks.
Tlie blocks, originally J92 in number,'remaintd in the possession of Andreii till 1526.
Un receiving payment, he surrendered them to the Nuremberg council, who sent them
to Augsburg, whence they were transferred immediately to Yienna. After they had
been used for two editions, in 1526 and 1559, they were sent with other property of the
Archduke Charles (1540-1590) to Gratz in Styria; there they remained in the Jesuit
College till 1799, when they were sent back to Vienna, with the exception of 21, which
had been )ost meanwhile. They were used for the editions of 1799 and 1885-6, and
are still preserved in the Hofbibliothek. One block, recovered since 1799, is in the
Austrian Museum for Art and Industry at Vienna.
The Date.
It has becn inferred with great probability that Diirer was engaged ou the drawings
for the arch from 1512, when lie entered the Emperor’s service, to 1515, when he
received, on September 6th, the grant of a ycarly ptnsion of 100 Ehenish florins. In a
1 See Kunstchronih, N.F. ix, 265.
2 See Chmelarz, pp. 308-310.
3 Ibul. p. 310, Taf. 36 of the edition of 1885-6, and Liitzow, p. 122.
Ecirly German ancl Flemish Woodcuts.—Part 11.
Giehlow attributes much of the cletail 011 the 1. side, especially the child
with armour, the man holding the garland, the ape, the griflin with
St. Andrew’s cross, Frederick III, and the group of drummer, trumpeter,
and standard-bearer, to Hans Diirer.
(b) The outer pair of large coluums, with the lavish ornament at the base,
the statues of SS. Arnolph and Leopold, Albrecht II (from whom Albreeht I
is copied) and the griflin with flint ancl steel: also the griffins over the inner
pair of columns, and the groups of figures above the griffins on the r. side.
(c) Portions of the ornamental terminations of the wide spaces of wall
on either sicle of the central tower. These, however, in the main, like the
whole of the decoration of the central cupola and the two archdukes on
the bases of the central columns, show Dtirer’s design at second hand.
(d) The fifth scene of Maximilian’s private life on the 1. round tower.
(e) The second (in the original edition), fifteenth, twenty-second, and
twenty-third historical subjects.
(/) The half-length figure of the Archduchess Margaret, the head of
the Archduke Ferdinand, ancl that of the first Archduchess in the pedi-
gree. These are drawn on separate pieces of wood inserted in the block,
the rest of which was designed by Springinklee.
(g) Tlie busts of six emperors, from Constantine to Honorius, and
among the kinsmen on the r. side the head of Ludwig, King of Hungary.
The ouly drawings for the arch known to exist are a first sketch for Kiug Philip in
the pedigree, in the Diirer MS. at Dresden; a sketch [83 x 75] for the griffin with flint
and stee), facing 1., in vol. iv of the Diirer MSS. in the British Muscum (5231, fol. 91b);
and a hasty pen-and-ink sketch for the angel who holds the crown over tlie central gate-
way (ibid. fol. 99b; reproduced in Conway’s “ Literary Eemains of A. Diirer,” p. 278,
mcntioned by Lange and Puhse, p. 266). A water-colour design for the hierogiyphic
mystery, not by Diirer himself, is preserved in MS. 3255 in the Hofbibliothek, Yienna.1
The Engravee.
The blocks were cut by llieronymus Andreii, or Rescb, of Nuremberg (d. 7 May,
1556), as we learn from Neudorfer and other contemporary sources.2 It seems incredibie
that he should have cut the whole wflth his own hand, but if he employed assistants, he
doubtless, like Jost de Negker, gave finishing touches to their work, to ensure a uniform
appearance. Neudorfer praises especially his skill in cutting letters. Ilis mark, which
might be described as a combination of three Z’s, or as a triangle of which every side is
produced and then bent at an acute angle to the rigbt,3 is found on almostall tlie blocks
belonging to the original edition. He seems to have begun the work early in 1515 and
to have completed it, with the possible exception of the pedigree, by April, 1517.
LIistory of the Blocks.
Tlie blocks, originally J92 in number,'remaintd in the possession of Andreii till 1526.
Un receiving payment, he surrendered them to the Nuremberg council, who sent them
to Augsburg, whence they were transferred immediately to Yienna. After they had
been used for two editions, in 1526 and 1559, they were sent with other property of the
Archduke Charles (1540-1590) to Gratz in Styria; there they remained in the Jesuit
College till 1799, when they were sent back to Vienna, with the exception of 21, which
had been )ost meanwhile. They were used for the editions of 1799 and 1885-6, and
are still preserved in the Hofbibliothek. One block, recovered since 1799, is in the
Austrian Museum for Art and Industry at Vienna.
The Date.
It has becn inferred with great probability that Diirer was engaged ou the drawings
for the arch from 1512, when lie entered the Emperor’s service, to 1515, when he
received, on September 6th, the grant of a ycarly ptnsion of 100 Ehenish florins. In a
1 See Kunstchronih, N.F. ix, 265.
2 See Chmelarz, pp. 308-310.
3 Ibul. p. 310, Taf. 36 of the edition of 1885-6, and Liitzow, p. 122.