file which includes the original illustrations4 ,see #egdbh-;h4htm or #egdbh-;h4zip3 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/cache_/epu b_/#egdbh_/pg#egdbh-;images4html7 or 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/files_/#eg dbh_/egdbh-;h4zip7 ,images of the original pages are available through ,internet ,archive4 ,see https3_/_/archive4org_/details_/petervis cher#jj;head ,transcriber's note3 ,text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores 7italics74 ,the reader will encounter ,,tn#a once4 ,,tn#a identifies an error in the original book3 8,,etsaxa0 should have been 8,,et ,,saxa04 ,the reader will encounter ,,tn#b three times4 ,,tn#b identifies a place where a character could not be reproduced and was replaced by an apostrophe 7example3 ,,petr',,tn#b74 ,,handbooks ,,of ,,the ,,great ,,craftsmen4 ,,edited ,,by ,g4 ,c4 ,,williamson1 ,,litt4,d4 ,,peter ,,vischer ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,handbooks of the ,great ,craftsmen4 -------------- ,illustrated ,monographs1 ,biographical and ,critical1 on the ,great ,craftsmen and ,workers of ,ancient and ,modern ,times4 ,edited by ,g4 ,c4 ,,williamson1 ,litt4,d4 ,imperial #afmo1 with numerous ,illustrations1 #es4 net each4 ,first ,volumes of the ,series ,,the ,,pavement ,,masters ,,of ,,siena4 ,workers in ,graffito4 ,by ,r4 ,h4 ,,hobart ,,cust1 ,m4,a4 ,,peter ,,vischer4 ,bronze ,founder4 ,by ,,cecil ,,headlam1 ,b4,a4 ,,the ,,ivory ,,workers ,,of ,,the ,,middle ,,ages4 ,by ,a4 ,m4 ,,cust4 ,others to follow4 -------------- ,,london3 ,,george ,,bell ,,and ,,sons ,,new ,,york3 ,,the ,,macmillan ,,co4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,from ,a ,,drawing ,,in ,,possession ,,of ,t4 ,a4 ,,stein1 ,n,,rnberg #a4 ,,portrait ,,of ,,peter ,,vischer ,,peter ,,vischer by ,,cecil ,,headlam1 ,b4,a4 ,formerly ,demy of ,magdalen ,college1 ,oxford2 ,author of 8,the ,story of ,nuremberg10 etc4 ,illustration3 ,publisher's ,logo ,london ,george ,bell and ,sons #aija ,chiswick ,press3 ,charles ,whittingham and ,co4 ,tooks ,court1 ,chancery ,lane1 ,london4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,preface ,,the ,germans have by nature the gift of working in metal1 and1 among them1 in the realms of bronze1 ,peter ,vischer stands easily first4 ,his position as a craftsman may1 in fact1 be compared with that held by his contemporary and fellow citizen1 ,albert ,drer1 as an artist4 ,the history of his works and of those of his house1 have a peculiar interest to the student of art1 inasmuch as they illustrate the gradual but easily traceable passage of the ,german craftsmen from the style of late ,gothic to that of complete neo-paganism1 and1 from the school of the ,northern painters and sculptors to that of the great ,italian masters successively4 ,i speak of the works of ,peter ,vischer 8and his house10 because1 in tracing this development1 we have to take into consideration not only his works but also those of his father ,hermann and of his sons1 ,hermann and ,peter and ,hans4 ,the pendulum of criticism has indeed swung more than once since the ,emperor ,maximilian used to visit ,peter ,vischer's foundry in ,nuremberg1 and the questions as to what are actually the works of the ,master and what position is to be assigned to him in the world of art1 have been answered in more ways than one4 ,for many years1 owing partly to the ignorance of most people1 and partly no doubt to the greed of the few1 the tendency was to attribute to this one famous craftsman the works of many4 ,at one time almost any work of art in bronze to be found throughout the length and breadth of ,germany was attributed to ,peter ,vischer1 just as a ,talleyrand or a ,sydney ,smith has had witticisms of every date and every quality fathered upon him4 ,from unreasoning praise1 again1 men passed to equally undiscriminating disparagement4 ,heideloff arose and wished the world to see in ,peter ,vischer nothing but the mere craftsman who put into bronze the designs and models of ,adam ,krafft or another4 ,the admirable labours of ,retberg1 however1 and of ,dr4 ,lbke have shown how little foundation there is for this view1 and1 more recently1 by the application of the principles of more exact art-criticism1 ,dr4 ,seeger1 in his minute and loving study of ,peter ,vischer the younger1 has vindicated the claim of the great craftsman's son to rank with1 or even above1 his father as the first and greatest exponent of ,renaissance plastic-work in ,germany4 ,to the two latter authors ,i have been continually and especially indebted whilst writing the present monograph4 ,for the use of very many of the illustrations forming the volume to which ,dr4 ,lbke contributed the text1 my best thanks and acknowledgements are due to the publisher1 ,herr ,stein1 of ,nuremberg4 ,c4 ,h4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ix ,,bibliography xi ,i4 ,,hermann ,,vischer ,,and ,,the ,,early ,,german #a ,,bronze-,,work ,,ii4 ,,peter ,,vischer3 ,,his ,,life #i ,,iii4 ,,the ,,early ,,works ,,of ,,peter ,,vischer #bj ,,iv4 ,,the ,,shrine ,,of ,,st4 ,,sebald #cf ,v4 ,,the ,,tomb ,,of ,,maximilian #fd ,,vi4 ,,the ,,tucher ,,monument ,,and ,,the ,,nuremberg #gb ,,madonna ,,vii4 ,,the ,,minor ,,works ,,of ,,peter ,,vischer ,,the #hf ,,younger ,,viii4 ,,the ,,tomb ,,of ,,elector ,,frederick ,,the ,,wise1 #aja ,,and ,,the ,,rathaus ,,railing ,,ix4 ,,the ,,fall ,,of ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,vischer #aai ,x4 ,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,the ,,works ,,of ,,the #acj ,,vischers ,,catalogue ,,of ,,the ,,works ,,of ,,the ,,vischers #acc ,index #adb ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,,plate ,,page #a4 ,,portrait ,,of ,,peter ,,vischer ,frontispiece #b4 ,,peter ,,vischer1 ,,the ,,craftsman ,st4 ,sebald1 #ac ,nrnberg #c4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,archbishop ,,ernst ,cathedral1 #bc ,magdeburg #d4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,archbishop ,,ernst ,cathedral1 #bg ,magdeburg #e4 ,,st4 ,,maurice ,krafft ,house1 ,nrnberg #bi #f4 ,,monument ,,of ,,count ,,hermann ,,viii4 ,church1 #ca ,rmhild #g4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,st4 ,,sebald ,st4 ,sebald1 ,nrnberg #dc #h4 ,,st4 ,,peter ,st4 ,sebald1 ,nrnberg #df #i4 ,,st4 ,,sebald ,st4 ,sebald1 ,nrnberg #dg #aj4 ,,st4 ,,sebald ,,punishes ,,an ,,unbeliever ,st4 #ee ,sebald1 ,nrnberg #aa4 ,,st4 ,,sebald ,,healing ,,the ,,blind ,,man ,st4 #eg ,sebald1 ,nrnberg #ab4 ,,st4 ,,paul ,st4 ,sebald1 ,nrnberg #ei #ac4 ,,st4 ,,bartholomew ,st4 ,sebald1 ,nrnberg #fa #ad4 ,,theodoric1 ,,king ,,of ,,the ,,goths ,tomb of #fh ,maximilian1 ,innsbruck #ae4 ,,king ,,arthur ,tomb of ,maximilian1 #fi ,innsbruck #af4 ,,meeting ,,of ,,christ ,,with ,,the ,,sisters ,,of #ge ,,lazarus ,cathedral1 ,ratisbon #ag4 ,,beweinung ,,christi ,st4 gidius1 ,nrnberg #gi #ah4 ,,the ,,nuremberg ,,madonna ,museum1 ,nrnberg #ha #ai4 ,,orpheus ,,and ,,eurydice ,collection of ,m4 #ij ,dreyfus1 ,paris #bj4 ,,orpheus ,,and ,,eurydice ,museum1 ,berlin #ic #ba4 ,,earthly ,,life 7,,inkstand7 ,ashmolean #if ,museum1 ,oxford #bb4 ,,heavenly ,,life 7,,inkstand7 ,ashmolean #ig ,museum1 ,oxford #bc4 ,,elector ,,frederick ,,the ,,wise #ajc ,schlosskirche1 ,wittenberg #bd4 ,,the ,,rathaus ,,railing ,formerly at ,nrnberg #aji #be4 ,,the ,,rathaus ,,railing ,formerly at ,nrnberg #aac #bf4 ,,boy ,,with ,,bagpipes ,museum1 ,nrnberg #abj #bg4 ,,tomb-,,plate ,,of ,,duchess ,,helene ,,von #aba ,,mecklenburg ,cathedral1 ,schwerin #bh4 ,,the ,,apollo ,,fountain ,rathaus ,court1 #abf ,nrnberg ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,bibliography ,baader4 ,beitrge zur ,kunstgeschichte ,nrnbergs4 ,bauer 7,robert74 ,peter ,vischer und das alte ,nrnberg4 ,bergau 7,r74 ,peter ,vischer1 in ,dohme's ,kunst und ,knstler des ,mittelalters1 vol4 ii4 ,bode4 ,geschichte der deutschen ,plastik4 ,daun 7,berthold74 ,adam ,krafft und die ,knstler seiner ,zeit4 ,dbner 7,a4 ,w474 ,peter-,vischer-,studien4 ,edelberg 7,r4 von ,e4 von74 ,quellenschriften fr ,kunstgeschichte4 ,ephrussi 7,charles74 ,albert ,drer et ses ,dessins4 ,heideloff4 ,die ,ornamente des ,mittelalters4 ,jannsen4 ,geschichte des deutschen ,volks4 ,lbke 7,wilhelm74 ,peter ,vischer und seine ,werke4 ,lbke 7,wilhelm74 ,renaissance in ,deutschland4 ,mummenhoff 7,r4 von74 ,das ,rathaus in ,nrnberg4 ,neudrffer4 ,nachrichten ber ,knstlern und ,werkleuten ,nrnbergs4 ,reicke 7,emil74 ,geschichte der ,reichstadt ,nrnberg4 ,retberg 7,r4 von74 ,nrnbergs ,kunstleben in seinem ,denkmalen dargestellt4 ,schnherr 7,david ,ritter von74 ,geschichte des ,grabmals ,kaisers ,maximilian ,i4 ,seeger 7,georg74 ,peter ,vischer der ,jngere4 ,sieghart4 ,geschichte der bildenden ,knste in ,baiern4 ,springer 7,anton74 ,albrecht ,drer4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- 8,a man of amiable conversation and1 among natural arts 7to speak as a layman71 finely skilled in casting40 ,,johann ,,neud,,rffer4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,peter ,,vischer ,,chapter ,i ,,hermann ,,vischer ,,and ,,the ,,early ,,german ,,bronze ,,work ,,it was in the middle of the fifteenth century1 a little before the year #adej1 to be precise1 that there wandered into the streets of ,nuremberg a working man1 a common coppersmith1 one ,hermann ,vischer by name4 ,he came no one knows whence4 ,he came one can easily imagine why4 ,like the father of ,albert ,drer1 and in the same decade1 he was attracted to that beautiful1 busy old town by the greed of gain1 as ,shakespeare was drawn to ,london1 and many another worker in other arts and crafts has been drawn to many another town4 ,for ,nuremberg at this time was the shining jewel of the ,holy ,roman ,empire1 the centre of trade and the meeting place of the ,arts4 ,her geographical position and the business energy of her sons had combined to throw into her lap all the commerce of the east and south1 of ,italy and the ,levant1 with the northern nations4 ,the days were near at hand when this proud1 free city of the ,empire1 this trading staple of the ,german world1 was to win the still nobler title of 8,albert ,drer's and ,hans ,sachs' ,city40 ,for the merchant princes of the place1 the ,patricians as they called themselves1 whilst they grew in wealth and power1 waxed also in enthusiasm for the sciences and arts4 ,they strove to make their town a ,german ,florence1 and by their lavish expenditure upon the adornment of public and private buildings1 both attracted foreign genius and encouraged native talent4 ,regiomontanus on the one hand1 the great mathematician1 chose ,nuremberg for his place of residence because he found there all the peculiar instruments necessary for astronomy1 and because the 8perpetual journeyings of her merchants0 enabled him to keep in touch with the learned of all countries4 ,these perpetual journeyings of the merchant princes and great explorers1 like ,behaim1 reacted also upon the artists of the town2 they contributed to give them a wider outlook upon life1 and brought within their reach the wonderful works of ,italy4 ,the broad culture of a ,pirkheimer exercised an undoubted influence upon the many-sided genius of ,drer1 whilst the liberal atmosphere engendered by travel made the citizens of ,nuremberg ready to welcome in their midst foreign artists like the elder ,drer1 the elder ,vischer and ,veit ,stoss1 and rendered the local artists themselves susceptible to the excellence of foreign art4 ,not that the ,nuremberg artists lack the local note4 ,but they readily accepted the ideas of ,flemish realism and again of the ,italian ,renaissance1 and translated them into the terms of their own speech4 ,albert ,drer1 for instance1 in spite of his wide experience1 always speaks in his art like his master ,wolgemut1 in the ,nuremberg dialect4 ,the intense patriotism and the deep religious feeling which formed so intimate a part of the lives of the citizens are reproduced in their art and literature1 giving the greatest examples of them the added charm of locality4 ,the religious spirit in which they worked lent a great humility to these craftsmen4 ,sculpture and painting had indeed been applied with splendid results to the adornment of domestic and public life1 results so splendid that the traveller neas ,sylvius was obliged to confess that the mansions of the burgesses seemed to have been built for princes1 and that the kings of ,scotland would gladly be housed as luxuriously as the ordinary citizen of ,nuremberg4 ,but the chief work of men like ,adam ,krafft and ,peter ,vischer was given to the beautifying of the churches4 ,and1 working as they did in a deeply religious spirit1 it is noticeable that when they represent themselves in paint1 bronze1 wood or stone1 they give themselves the humble pose of suppliants1 choosing always the lowliest place1 and often1 like ,krafft in the tabernacle in the ,church of ,st4 ,lorenz1 or ,vischer in the ,sebaldusgrab in the ,church of ,st4 ,sebald1 they appear in their working clothes1 tools in hand1 in the attitude of servants4 ,there1 in a niche of the beautiful shrine he had wrought1 with his workman's cap on his head and a large leather apron round his waist1 and in his hand hammer and chisel1 the signs of his calling1 stands thick-set and full-bearded ,peter ,vischer1 the modest1 pious labourer1 whose reputation had spread beyond the limits of ,germany1 and whose bronze work1 the chronicler tells us1 once filled ,poland1 ,bohemia1 ,hungary1 and the palaces of princes throughout the ,holy ,roman ,empire4 7,ill4 #b47 ,when ,hermann ,vischer came to ,nuremberg the bronze industry had long been pursued in ,germany1 and it had been pursued with some success4 ,the individuality of this indigenous art had been in early times uninfluenced by foreign inspiration4 ,while ,venice had to go to ,constantinople for the bronze gates of ,st4 ,mark's1 and ,rome was acknowledging the supremacy of ,byzantine ideals in the presence of the gates of ,s4 ,paolo1 in ,germany1 as ,lbke points out1 such works as the doors of the ,cathedrals of ,hildesheim and ,augsburg1 the tomb-plates at ,magdeburg and ,merseburg1 or the great altar at ,goslar1 prove the existence1 albeit in a very crude and undeveloped state1 of a native art in bronze4 ,the twelfth century saw the ,german foundries supplying many an important font or cathedral door4 ,the work of ,lambert ,patras von ,dinant 7#aaab71 the fonts in the cathedral at ,osnabrck1 the lions at ,brunswick and the doors of ,st4 ,sophia at ,novgorod1 exhibit indeed a very considerable advance both in execution and design4 ,the increasing use of bronze for the sacred vessels and ornaments of the ,church extended the scope of the craftsmen1 and the hey-day of the early ,gothic period saw no lack of tomb-plates1 candelabra1 and fonts from the ,german foundries4 ,the workmanship of these is good but undistinguished as it is uninspired4 ,it seldom even approaches in artistic merit the splendid tomb of ,konrad von ,hochstaden in ,cologne ,cathedral1 or the later1 vigorous equestrian statue of ,st4 ,george in the cathedral at ,prague1 wrought by ,georg and ,martin von ,clussenbach in #acgc4 ,nuremberg1 in spite of her wealth and commercial importance1 had not1 at the time of the coming of ,hermann ,vischer1 given birth as yet to any great work of art in bronze4 ,almost the only old piece of bronze of any importance to be seen in the churches there is the font in ,st4 ,sebald's ,church4 ,and its importance lies rather in the richness with which it is wrought than in its artistic excellence 7#acej74 ,this is the font in which the ,emperor ,wenzel was baptized--a baptism which cost the town the beautiful old parsonage1 burnt down by the fires used to heat the water for the imperial infant4 ,the four squat apostolic figures represented here in their straight1 heavy mantles bear witness already to that striving after a realistic representation of the great protagonists in the sacred drama which was beginning to betray itself at this time in the works of the nameless ,nuremberg painters on the one hand1 and1 on the other1 of the ,nuremberg sculptors1 such as ,hans ,decker1 the forerunner of ,adam ,krafft4 ,it was a tendency which the ,nuremberg artists1 like their brethren of the ,swabian school and the school of ,cologne owed to the influence of ,flemish art4 ,but this was a return to ,nature not without its faults4 ,the ,german artist1 in his eager endeavour to reproduce the exact form of his models1 of those1 that is1 whom he saw around him every day1 was badly served by the figures of his countrymen4 ,they could not give him the slim and graceful forms of the ,italians to copy1 and he had not yet learnt from ,italy those theories of beauty1 based on a study of the antique1 which were one day to help an ,albert ,drer to perform the true function of an artist by improving upon ,nature4 ,of ,hermann ,vischer himself and his doings we know very little4 ,very little also of his work survives4 ,we know that he became a ,burgher of his adopted town and1 in #adec1 rose to be a ,master in the ,guild of ,rotschmieds4 ,that he gained some reputation in his day1 and not at home only1 is shown by the fact that four years later he cast the ,font for the parish church at ,wittenberg4 ,several tomb-plates at ,meissen and ,bamberg are also attributed to him4 ,these confirm us in the impression that he had no great individuality4 ,he was an excellent workman without being endowed with the superlative excellence of the artist4 ,for the ,font at ,wittenberg1 which is cast in the ,gothic manner with small1 undistinguished figures of the apostles1 is a work of very little importance4 ,in ,nuremberg1 where he lived in a house 8,am ,sand0 in the ,schiessgraben1 there is one work which is generally attributed to ,hermann1 although it is quite possibly from the hand of one ,eberhard ,vischer who became a master in #adei and died in #adhh1 just one year later than ,hermann4 ,the work to which we refer is the large bronze ,crucifix outside the central window of the ,lffelholz chapel of the church of ,st4 ,sebald1 which was presented by the ,starck family in #adhb4 ,it was remodelled in #afbe1 and on that occasion the ,nurembergers earned the nick-name of ,herrgottschwrzer or ,blackeners of the ,lord4 ,for the story ran that the cross was made of silver1 and that the ,council of the town resolved that it should be painted black in order to preserve it from the roving bands of soldiers that passed through the town during the ,thirty ,years' ,war4 ,the figure on the cross is that of a ,hercules rather than of a ,christ4 ,the feet are each nailed separately after the ancient manner4 ,hermann ,vischer was twice married4 ,by his first wife1 ,felicitas1 he had one daughter1 ,martha1 and one son1 ,peter1 the date of whose birth is not known4 ,by his second wife he had three sons of no importance1 and he died in #adhg1 in the year which saw the birth of his second grandson1 ,peter ,vischer the younger1 to whom1 it will be shown in the succeeding chapters1 many of the finest works usually attributed to the elder ,peter must now probably be credited4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,ii ,,peter ,,vischer3 ,,his ,,life ,,peter ,,vischer1 the great bronze-founder1 whose work and that of his house embodies the complete transition from the ,gothic to the ,renaissance style in ,germany1 was born and brought up in his father's house in 8,am ,sand40 ,there he lived1 and he worked as an apprentice with his father in the ,town ,foundry in the ,white ,tower all the days of his boyhood4 ,so much we may assume1 although we know nothing of his youth1 and no one of all the men since dead would be more surprised than he to find himself the subject of a monograph1 or would be more genuinely astonished to learn that his up-bringing is a source of interest to later generations4 ,for he appears to us in the few historical documents in which he figures as the perfect type of the plain1 unspoilt craftsman or ,master of a ,guild4 ,a man was not an artist in those days1 but a mere stonemason1 or smith or painter4 ,but1 lacking the title1 he did not necessarily lack the quality4 ,the study of design was never more enthusiastic1 the struggle after excellence never more sincere than in the days when ,drer's art was regarded as a mere parasite of other trades1 when ,hans ,sachs was 8,schuh-- --,macher und ,poet dazu10 and when ,peter ,vischer laboured in his leather apron at the foundry1 or turned from the entertaining of ,emperors to spend his leisure hours in the endeavour to improve his draughtsmanship4 ,i have said that we know nothing of the latter's boyhood1 but if in his case the child was father of the man1 he must have been a diligent youth4 ,johann ,neudrffer 7#adig-aefc71 an artistic scribe and the man in whom succeeding ages have had to bless the inventor of ,german type1 has left us a charming picture of him in later days4 8,this ,peter ,vischer was a man of amiable conversation10 he writes in his ,nachrichten ber ,nrnberger ,knstler und ,werkleute1 a work which is not indeed free from errors1 but to which we owe the earliest accounts we have of most of the ,nuremberg artists1 8and among natural arts 7to speak as a layman7 finely skilled in casting and so much renowned among the nobility that when any prince or great potentate came to the town he seldom omitted to pay him a visit in his foundry1 for he went every day to his casting shop and worked there40 ,adam ,krafft the sculptor1 we learn from the same source1 and ,sebastien ,lindenast the coppersmith1 who made works of art of copper 8as if they had been of gold or silver10 were his two bosom friends4 ,they seemed1 we are told1 to have but one heart4 ,all three were equally simple1 disinterested1 and ever eager to learn4 8,they were like brothers2 every ,friday1 even in their old age1 they met and studied together like apprentices1 as the designs which they executed at their meetings prove4 ,then they separated in friendly wise1 but without having eaten or drunk together40 ,the spirit of the ,reformation had breathed upon these men and inspired them with a new and burning zeal for art and knowledge and industry4 ,as a boy then1 we may assume1 ,peter ,vischer worked as an apprentice with his father4 ,for in those days any youth destined for a certain trade had to be apprenticed to some master of that trade1 who was responsible for his education both in mind and morals during his years of learning 7,lehrjahre74 ,and almost everything made by hand1 every manufactured article was the monopoly of some trade corporation4 ,every trade1 too1 and almost every department of a trade1 had its separate costume4 ,each craft bore its special garb or mark of distinction4 ,the masters and high officials of each were often notably bedizened1 and garments distinguished the ,sabbath from the week day as clearly as they distinguished the merchant from the shopkeeper4 ,the rules and regulations by which wages and prices1 and the amount of work to be done and holiday kept1 and the relations of the members of the ,guild were fixed1 were strictly enforced1 and could only be infringed at the risk of heavy penalties4 ,the boundaries between the trades were clearly laid down and rigidly observed4 ,for the ,middle ,ages were riddled with ,socialism1 and this was a form of it4 ,the ,guild system resulted in an arbitrary and irritating enforcement of the division of labour1 which finds its counterpart nowadays in the observances of the ,trades ,unions and several of the learned professions4 ,the man who made a window-frame was a window-frame maker and might not insert the window-pane unless he had also qualified as a glazier4 ,only a locksmith was allowed to fix the casement to it1 and it was a joiner's business and a joiner's only to embellish it with carving4 ,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,sebald',s ,,church1 ,n,,rnberg #b4 ,,peter ,,vischer ,,the ,,craftsman ,the position of the ,bronze ,workers in this hierarchy of trades does not appear to have been in any way exceptional4 ,the usual tendency of son to succeed father in the trade1 to labour first as youth and apprentice and then as master and married man1 to work on in his father's shop and to live in his father's house is carried out in the case of the ,vischer family4 ,and thanks to this fact we can trace in the works of their house the development of native ,german art1 passing from late ,gothic1 slightly influenced by ,flemish realism1 into the full flower of that ,german renaissance1 which is not directly a 8,new ,birth0 of the art of old days1 but only the second-hand influence of that revival as reflected with a sudden and momentary brilliancy by the productions of ,german artists who had travelled in ,italy and studied with profit ,italian works4 ,on the expiration of his apprenticeship ,peter ,vischer would naturally1 like other ,german youths1 start on a period of travel--his ,wanderjahre4 ,whither he went we know not1 but it is most probable that he turned his steps towards the ,netherlands1 where he could study the marvels of the new style of ,flemish realism which had begun to exercise a potent influence upon the ,nuremberg painters of his day4 ,but whether he reached the ,netherlands or not of one thing we may be certain4 ,neither now nor at any subsequent period did he go to ,italy4 ,it was indeed at one time thought and affirmed that he sojourned there once at least and perhaps twice4 7,sandrart1 ,teutscher ,academie1 #afge47 ,but there is not one jot or tittle of evidence to support this theory1 which was intended to supply us with the source whence he drew the inspiration for the second and third periods of his art4 ,after his ,wanderjahre he returned to ,nuremberg1 and living in his father's house1 in friendship with ,adam ,krafft1 and in an atmosphere of late ,gothic tradition permeated by ,flemish realism1 he entered upon the first period of his work1 which ended1 we may say1 with the year #aejg1 and of which the ,magdeburg ,monument was the highest expression and achievement4 ,vischer was by nature an idealist1 and he quickly grew out of sympathy with the aims of the realistic school4 ,but even in this tomb of ,archbishop ,ernst we can trace the influence exercised by ,michel ,wolgemut on the one hand1 and of ,martin ,schn1 through his copper-plates1 on the other1 as it is displayed in the striving after life and truth even at the expense of beauty1 which is clearly noticeable in the figures1 faces and heads of the apostles4 ,the architecture and design1 however1 are cast in the late ,gothic mould4 ,the works that belong to the second period of the ,vischer foundry show a pure1 plastic sense of form and rhythm emerging from the overwhelming dominion of late ,gothic extravagance4 ,the childish things of that style have been put away by the mature artist1 and1 in obedience to the teaching of the drawings of ,jacopo de' ,barbari1 whom ,drer called 8a lovable1 good painter10 and of the drawings of early ,renaissance work in ,north ,italy1 which ,peter the younger had made in his ,wanderjahre there1 the great masterpiece of the house1 the ,sebaldusgrab1 takes shape in a style that is a curious mixture of the ,medival and ,renaissance manners4 ,finally1 when ,hermann ,vischer1 ,peter's eldest son1 had made a journey to ,rome and returned thence laden with drawings1 father and sons gave themselves up to a whole-hearted worship of the beauty of form and an eager copying of the antique which resulted in the most beautiful piece of pure ,renaissance work which ever issued from a ,german workshop--the ,rathaus ,railing1 destined to be sold in the fulness of years and melted down for the value of its metal6 ,the life of ,peter ,vischer was simple and domestic1 but very full of toil and trouble and private grief made bearable perhaps by his absorbing enthusiasm for his work4 ,a few years before his father's death1 probably in #adhe1 he married ,margaretha1 daughter of ,hans ,gross4 ,a document1 dated ,october #dth1 #adij1 gives us a slight glimpse of her character4 ,therein her father records that he makes a present to his daughter of the green mantle and veil with which he had provided her on her wedding day1 but at the same time he binds ,peter ,vischer with all the paraphernalia of judges1 witnesses and solemn pledges not to allow her to sell or pawn the said articles4 ,the date of this document led to the erroneous conclusion that the marriage only took place in #adhi1 but ,dr4 ,seeger has recently pointed out that on a medallion by ,peter ,vischer the younger he expressly states that he was twenty-two years of age when he wrought it1 and this in the year #aeji4 ,since ,neudrffer1 the ,nuremberg ,vasari1 refers to ,hermann as 8the famous ,peter ,vischer's eldest son10 the marriage must have occurred somewhere about #adhe4 ,there was also a third son by this union1 known afterwards as ,hans der ,giesser4 ,margaretha died shortly after the birth of this last son1 and in #adic we find ,peter married again to ,dorothea von ,gericht4 ,she died soon afterwards1 leaving him a daughter1 ,margaretha1 and then he took to himself another ,margaretha4 ,meantime he worked like his father at the town ,foundry in the ,white ,tower1 and lived in the house he had inherited1 8,am ,sande40 ,but in #aeje he moved to a house behind the ,convent of ,st4 ,catherine1 which had fallen to him by inheritance4 ,on ,july #bfth of that year he was chosen 8,street ,captain0 7,gassenhauptman7 of the ,barfsser or ,franciscan quarter of the town1 and in the following year he and ,margaretha signed a legal document declaring that they had bought another house for #abj fl4 ,part of this house they pulled down and threw into a third adjoining one which they had also acquired4 ,thus they formed a single large foundry of their own and enjoyed possession of their own dwelling house next door4 ,this house still stands in the street now called ,peter ,vischerstrasse4 ,two other sons came to him by this marriage1 ,jakob and ,paul4 ,then in #aebb he was again left a widower and a widower he remained the last seven years of his life1 although historians1 concluding that he had formed an ineradicable habit of matrimony1 have placed a fourth wife to his credit4 ,barbara they name her and say that she survived him4 ,but as her name does not appear in the documents dealing with the partition of property immediately after his death it seems probable that they are thinking of ,barbara1 the wife of ,peter ,vischer the younger4 ,for he and his family were living in his father's house1 and seeing that ,hermann1 the elder son1 had died in #aeaf and his wife1 ,ursula ,mag1 in #aead1 it was natural that ,barbara1 on the death of the old man's third wife should take care of him and charge of his house4 ,peter the younger died in #aebh1 but ,barbara and her six children would still live on beneath the paternal roof till the old ,bronze-worker died in #aebi4 ,the famous foundry was inherited by her brother-in-law ,paul1 who sold it to his brother ,hans1 and ,barbara1 within a few months1 found another husband in ,jorg ,schott1 the goldsmith1 and another home4#a ,footnote #a3 ,seeger1 8,peter ,vischer der ,jngere40 ,thus it will be seen that the life of ,peter ,vischer1 although it was over-full of domestic bereavements1 was1 on the whole and apart from his work1 the ordinary happy home life of the ,german citizen4 ,he fulfilled his duties and had his successes as a burgher4 ,for he was one of the ,genannten of the ,great ,council both in #aeaf and again in #aebj4 ,he was also appointed in #aejf to the ,committee which was to consider the restoration of that extraordinary old clock in the ,frauenkirche1 known to young and old in ,nuremberg as the 8,mnnleinlaufen10 the copper figures in which were cast by his friend ,sebastien ,lindenast4 ,for the rest he hardly ever left ,nuremberg1 and never for long or to go far4 ,it has been one of the difficulties of art criticism to explain how it came about1 therefore1 that this modest1 stay-at-home burgher should have gone on all his life developing and adopting the new ideas and the recent revelations of ,italian art1 discarding the traditions in which he had been brought up1 and finally learning the latest lesson of the ,renaissance with such success that in his old age there came forth from his workshop the noblest work of ,german craftsmanship4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,early ,,works ,,of ,,peter ,,vischer ,,peter ,,vischer was admitted as a ,master of his ,guild in #adhi1 shortly after his father's death4 ,if1 as is generally admitted1 the monument of ,count ,otto ,,iv4 von ,henneberg at ,rmhild is from his hand1 we have in that rather limp1 life-size picture of a knight in armour1 holding an heraldic banner in his right hand and a sword in his left1 the earliest example of ,peter ,vischer's work4 ,and this figure1 it is noticeable1 is supported by a stone plate to which the arms and the inscription1 in letters separately cast1 are affixed4 ,it is1 then1 a relic of those days when1 just as painting was a parasite of carving and sculpture1 bronze also was a handmaid of stone4 ,it may be added that the demand for the products of ,vischer's foundry was fated to be destroyed in the years to come by the new fashion for tombs in stone4 ,but the monument of ,count ,otto assuredly did not qualify ,peter ,vischer as a ,meister in his craft4 ,what his 8masterpiece0 was we cannot say with certainty1 but it was very likely the model which he completed in #adhh for the shrine of ,st4 ,sebald4 ,this is the design which he was destined to take up twenty years later1 and to execute in the fulness of his new knowledge and developed technique4 ,it is now in ,vienna1 and betrays at every point the influence of ,adam ,krafft1 to the style of whose ,sacramentshaslein it bears an obvious resemblance4 ,heideloff1 the architect1 in whose possession the model once was1 attributed it indeed to ,veit ,stoss4 ,but it is signed by ,peter ,vischer with his mark ,illustration3 ,peter ,vischer's ,mark4 ,heideloff1 it is true1 claimed this as the token of ,veit ,stoss1 but his opinion is of little value1 for his enthusiasm for the ,polish carver led him to claim for him amongst other works the design of the tomb of ,archbishop ,ernst1 the ,rmhild memorials of ,count ,hermann ,,viii4 and of ,otto ,,iv41 and even the ,imperial tomb of ,maximilian at ,innsbruck4 ,of the original design for the ,sebaldusgrab1 ,lbke says1 8,it is a masterpiece of ,gothic construction but freely endowed with all the exaggeration and extravagance of the late period40 ,and there can be no doubt that the world lost nothing by the delay which intervened before ,peter ,vischer1 in the words of the chronicler1 8with the help of his five sons1 who were all married and lived for the most part with him in the house with their wives and children1 as ,i myself have seen10 remodelled it and completed it at last on ,july #ai1 #aeai4 ,after commencing ,meister he continued to work for a while in the ,gothic manner of his father and those about him4 ,he received at this time two commissions worth sixty florins apiece1 which he executed after the designs of others4 ,the tomb of ,bishop ,heinrich ,,iii41 ,gross von ,trockau1 in ,bamberg ,cathedral 7#adib7 is one of these4 ,it is skilfully wrought in low relief4 ,the bishop1 in his episcopal garments1 is conceived as standing on a lion1 and a ,gothic canopy is set over his head4 ,in style it recalls the second commission referred to--the monument in the same cathedral of ,bishop ,georg ,,ii41 ,marshal von ,ebenet1 which was wrought by ,vischer from a design by ,wolf4 ,katzheimer4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,cathedral1 ,,magdeburg #c4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,archbishop ,,ernst ,by the year #adid the ,meister had already laid the foundations of the great reputation which was to be his4 ,for1 in company with ,simon ,lamberger1 the wood-carver1 he was summoned to ,heidelberg by ,philip1 ,elector of the ,palatinate1 who desired them to 8serve him with their counsel and their handiwork40 ,at the special request of the ,nuremberg ,council1 so we are told1#b they went2 and they stayed there for a considerable space of time to work for the ,elector4 ,but of the work they performed at ,heidelberg we know absolutely nothing4 ,peter ,vischer was certainly back again in ,nuremberg in #adif4 ,for in that year he gave a full release 78aller ,dinge quitt1 ledig und los07 to his friend ,peter ,harsdorffer the younger1 in whose hands he had left the management of all his affairs during his absence4 ,he returned1 perhaps1 to execute the important commissions he had received from the ,north4 ,in the following year he completed the first great work of his life1 in which his own individuality is for the first time apparent4 ,for the tomb of ,archbishop ,ernst in the ,cathedral at ,magdeburg1 is the first of ,peter ,vischer's masterpieces1 and it affords the most important illustration of the early influences under which he worked4 ,the statue of the ,archbishop1 who was a brother of ,john the ,stable and ,frederick the ,wise1 lies in high relief beneath a ,gothic ,canopy1 which strongly recalls the famous ,pyx then just completed by the artist's friend1 ,adam ,krafft4 ,the figure1 which is represented in cope and mitre1 rests on a stone ,gothic base1 as upon a bed of state1 and holds in its hands a crosier and a ,pontifical ,cross4 ,a pleasing ,latin inscription round the monument informs us that 8with whatever art the hands of the craftsman have wrought me1 yet am ,i but dust1 and contain the dust and all the earthly remains0 of the great ,archbishop1 and it concludes with the prayer that his soul may rest in the consolation of light and peace4 7,ills4 #c and #d47 ,footnote #b3 ,baader4 ,ipse me vivus posuit1 it is added4 ,and indeed this ,child of ,light was wise in his generation1 and knowing that artists are rare1 and that through their pen or brush alone can most men achieve an earthly immortality1 the archbishop had ordered his tomb from ,peter ,vischer in #adid1 though he himself did not die till #aeac4 ,he was not so foolish as to leave the matter to the care of ungrateful heirs like ,browning's ,bishop who ordered his tomb in ,st4 ,praxed's ,church4 ,the date on the tombstone1 which is the date of the setting up thereof1 is variously interpreted #adie and #adig4 ,but all ,peter ,vischer's #e's are quite unlike the final figure in this inscription1 although many perceive in it a #e after the manner of the ,arabic lettering of those days4 ,moreover ,vischer was in ,heidelberg in #adid1 and only returned to ,nuremberg to stay in #adif4 ,only at ,nuremberg can he have had the appliances necessary for so elaborate a work1 and1 even if he paid a flying visit there before '#if1 he had not sufficient time to complete his task by #adie4 ,there is yet another reason for putting the date of the ,magdeburg monument as late as possible1 and that is its amazing superiority to the ,breslau tomb of ,bishop ,john ,,iv41 the setting up of which ,peter ,vischer himself personally superintended in #adif4 ,the latter monument is so inferior in style and treatment that it is incredible that the artist1 after having made such an advance as is exhibited in the ,magdeburg memorial1 should have gone back in the following year to so hard1 forced and yet feeble a handling of form4 ,if this ,breslau tomb is indeed later than the other it must be the work of an apprentice1 who has endeavoured to imitate the idea of the ,magdeburg masterpiece1 and very lamentably failed in his endeavour4 ,the decorative work1 however1 is very much more successful than the treatment of the figures1 of which the drapery still completely hides the anatomy and still falls in stiff and angular folds4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,cathedral1 ,,magdeburg #d4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,archbishop ,,ernst ,but to return to the tomb of ,archbishop ,ernst4 ,the artist has adopted that late ,gothic style which was apt to lead to so much that was weak1 trivial and ineffective4 ,but there is here nothing that is excessive or disproportionate4 ,even in the case of the canopy above the head of the reclining ,bishop1 if we concede the permissibility of its presence at all1 we must also confess that there is an artistic reason for its existence in the fact that it furnishes the top which one feels to be required for the monument4 ,as to the recumbent form itself1 it is1 in the strength of its treatment and the individuality of its portraiture1 conceived after the realistic manner of the day4 ,but ,vischer has not been betrayed into any excess in this direction4 ,only it is evident that the influence of that striving after the impressions of life as the artist sees it1 which has been called ,realism1 and which yet leaves room for so much that is ideal1 has been working strongly within him4 ,the broad1 heavy folds of drapery falling straight or almost straight down the bodies of the ,bishop and the ,apostles speak also to the same conclusion4 ,for statuettes of the ,twelve ,apostles1 ranged on either side of the tomb1 stand on pedestals1 enriched with deep foliage1 and beneath beautiful canopies1 intricately wrought in the ,gothic style4 ,they are the forerunners of those superb figures on the ,sebaldusgrab1 but their pose is very monotonous1 and in their undersize they recall the works of ,adam ,krafft1 which reflect the short and dumpy type of the contemporary ,nuremberger4 ,a tendency to exaggerate the size of the head may be noticed4 ,possibly it is the result of the artist's endeavour to express the individuality of the ,apostles he represented4 ,but this defect is reproduced in the ,angel set at the head of the ,archbishop4 ,a noticeable figure on this tomb is the ,st4 ,maurice at the head of it corresponding to the ,st4 ,stephen at the foot4 ,this is a veritable ,nuremberg type1 and reminds us of the statuette of the same ,saint now preserved in the ,court of ,krafft's ,house 7,no4 #g ,theresienstrasse7 at ,nuremberg4 ,it is a fountain-figure1 and was originally gilded4 ,doubt has been cast on the authorship of this piece1 but cannot be seriously entertained after a comparison with the ,st4 ,maurice at ,magdeburg4 7,ill4 #e47 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,krafft ,,house1 ,n,,rnberg #e4 ,,st4 ,,maurice ,the tomb throughout is wrought richly and with the minutest care4 ,on the base ,peter ,vischer seizes the opportunity of indulging his humour and luxuriant imagination4 ,he has added fantastic dogs and beasts of various kinds1 in the same spirit1 perhaps1 as that in which ,drer used to adorn and complete his engravings and even to crowd the vacant spaces of his compositions with the ,traumwerk with which his mind and memory were stored4 ,and in this respect also the ,magdeburg tomb foreshadows the ,sebaldusgrab4 ,at the four corners are four lions bearing arms2 above are four others poised in the manner of gargoyles on some ,gothic building2 whilst on the top1 at each corner1 standing on groups of ,gothic pilasters are1 or rather were1 the symbols of the four ,evangelists2 for the eagle has been broken off and has disappeared now from its base4 ,during the next few years 7#adig-aejh7 many works were turned out of the ,vischer ,foundry2 several of which were based on the designs of other artists1 most probably at the request of the patron4 ,some of those which we can identify as coming from ,vischer's workshop in this fashion1 such as the monument of ,bishop ,georg ,,ii4 of ,bamberg1 which was executed after the design by ,wolfgang ,katzheimer1 the ,bamberg painter1 or the monuments of ,bishop ,veit and ,heinrich ,,iii4 are of absolutely no interest to the student of ,peter ,vischer's art4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4,,church1 ,r,,mhild #f4 ,,monument ,,of ,,count ,,hermann ,,viii ,but two monuments1 this time of temporal princes1 which belong to the same period1 have a greater interest and a higher merit4 ,they are the memorials of ,count ,eitel ,friedrich ,,ii4 von ,hohenzollern in the parish church of ,hechingen 7#aejj71 and of ,count ,hermann ,,viii41 at ,rmhild4 7,ill4 #f47 ,no one who has familiarized himself with the master's manner will fail to perceive that1 if these monuments have been executed by him in bronze1 they have no less certainly been based upon the design of another hand4 ,and no one who has studied the drawings of ,albert ,drer1 and who now compares these knightly figures1 for instance1 with some of those mail-clad forms of his1 whether it be ,lucas ,baumgrtner or another1 will be astonished to learn that ,bergau has discovered and published that design1 and that it proves to be indeed by ,drer4 ,for that pen-and-ink drawing now at ,florence1 that sketch of the tall1 thin knight1 who is standing on a lion in a position that is1 it must be confessed1 both straddling and constrained1 and who is apparently speaking to his wife1 whose feet are set1 according to the convention1 upon a dog1 the symbol of fidelity1 is undeniably the first sketch for the tomb of ,count ,eitel and his wife ,magdalena1 ,countess of ,brandenburg1 which is now to be found in the parish church of ,hechingen4 ,certain very obvious variations have1 however1 been introduced1 whether by the designer in a second sketch1 or1 as is most probable1 by the bronze-worker on his own initiative4 ,the figures1 which in the original are excessively separate1 have been brought closer together1 and thereby1 whilst the lion and dog on which they stand have suffered1 an opportunity for the development of the background has been provided4 ,a trace of this process is observable also in the position of the ,count's right elbow1 which protrudes to the extreme outside edge of the frame4 ,the left hand1 holding a rosary1 is another innovation1 but it is not one for which in its execution any gain in grace can be claimed4 ,other minor alterations1 also1 may be remarked1 as in the drapery and in the pose of the ,countess1 which is beautiful and ,vischer-like4 ,the substitution of the three coats-of-arms for the late ,gothic work in ,drer's sketch is noteworthy4 ,unfortunately1 as ,lbke points out1 this monument has not come down to us complete4 ,originally it was a ,freigrab resting on lions1 and the sides of it were richly decorated4 ,angels are said to have stood at the four corners1 some of them supporting candlesticks and others coats-of-arms4 ,but in this instance1 as in a later and still more regrettable one1 the craftsman was destined to suffer from the greed inspired by the value of the material in which he wrought4 ,for1 in #aghb1 portions of this tomb were melted down1 and twenty-two new candlesticks for the church were cast out of the nearly one thousand pounds of metal resulting4 ,the date of the tomb is fixed approximately by the death of the ,countess1 which occurred in #adif4 ,the ,count himself died in #aeab1 and he probably ordered the monument soon after his wife's death4 ,it bears the date ,,mccccc4 ,elizabeth1 sister of the ,countess ,magdalena1 daughter of ,prince ,albert ,achilles1 of ,brandenburg1 had married ,count ,hermann ,,viii4 of ,henneberg1 and it is doubtless due to this relationship that the double tomb of husband and wife at ,rmhild was made from the same sketch and by the same craftsman as the memorial at ,hechingen4 ,it was indeed probably the earlier of the two4 ,so at least ,bergau argues1 from the fact that it is nearer to the original sketch by ,drer4 ,the ,count1 in this version of the design1 holds a banner1 the floating folds of which form an efficient background4 ,the drapery of the ,countess instead of being gathered up into her hands is caught up to her sides in graceful flowing folds4 ,peter ,vischer knew how to make a thrifty use of accomplished models4 ,here1 as originally at ,hechingen1 he repeated the symbols of the four ,evangelists which he had used for his ,magdeburg masterpiece4 ,the tomb stands upon six vigorous and life-like lions1 and1 says ,lbke1 among the various saints who are ranged round the sarcophagus is a ,madonna pressing to her breast the ,holy ,child1 who is turning with a quick and very natural movement towards the eldest of the three kings who bring gifts4 ,these are all figures quite in the best manner of ,peter ,vischer's early style4 ,and several of the other saints are almost equally good4 ,as usual the details are worked with admirable skill4 ,the following letters are engraved on this tomb3 ,m4 ,f4 ,w4 ,s4 #ae ,c4 ,dbner was inspired to interpret them thus3 8,meister ,fischer und ,fnf ,shne02 and again with a second effort3 8,meister ,fischer ,waage ,sebaldi #ae ,centner40 ,these interpretations1 ,i suppose1 carry with them their own refutation4 ,they do not encourage one to make a third attempt4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,shrine ,,of ,,st4 ,,sebald 8,in the ,church of ,sainted ,sebald sleeps enshrined his holy dust1 ,and in bronze the ,twelve ,apostles guard from age to age their trust40--,,longfellow4 ,,the ,magdeburg monument1 whilst it bears obvious traces of the influence of his father ,hermann1 of the school of ,wolgemut1 and of ,adam ,krafft upon the art of ,peter ,vischer1 is an eloquent testimony also to the rapid development which was taking place in the mind and ideas of this eager craftsman4 ,we have now reached the period when the ideals and the lessons of the ,renaissance begin to master his imagination and to permeate his art to such a degree and with such success that the work which was next commissioned from him proves to be the first and greatest of ,renaissance works in ,germany4 ,the shrine of ,st4 ,sebald reflects the history of the artist's mind4 ,upon a ,gothic base and foundation the spirit of ,renaissance detail has overwhelmingly impressed itself4 ,before we consider this work more closely it will be as well to state the sources whence our ,nuremberg craftsman drew his new inspirations4 ,how did he learn his lessons in ,italian art8 ,in the first place it would seem probable that ,jacopo de' ,barbari lived for some time in ,nuremberg during the last years of the fifteenth century4 ,it is at any rate certain that the influence exerted by his drawings upon the ,nuremberg artists was strong and lasting4 ,further1 it was only natural that ,nuremberg1 lying as it did on the direct trade route from east to north1 should be in close communication with ,venice and the great towns of ,northern ,italy4 ,venetians came to ,nuremberg2 ,nuremberg traders and artists1 like ,drer1 in their ,wanderjahre1 went to ,venice and returned laden with the fruits of their ,italian studies1 and copies of the works of ,italian masters4 ,the ,patrician youths of ,nuremberg1 also1 would naturally sojourn at the ,italian ,universities at ,padua1 ,bologna1 and elsewhere1 and they would bring home with them ,italian books and wood-cuts1 examples of the copper-plates of ,jacopo de' ,barbari and of the works of ,andrea ,sansovino4 ,but we seek for a more direct and personal source of contact to explain the intimate enthusiasm for ,italian art displayed by ,peter ,vischer4 ,and the secret of this source1 which had remained hitherto undiscovered1 has recently been made public by the elaborate researches of ,dr4 ,georg ,seeger4#c ,footnote #c3 8,peter ,vischer der ,jngere40 ,leipzig1 #ahig4 ,peter ,vischer's second son and namesake1 he reminds us1 is mentioned pointedly by the chroniclers in one passage#d as having done the greater part of the work on the ,sebaldusgrab1 8for he excelled his father and brother in art02 and in another#e as having 8taken his pleasure in reading the ,poets and ,historians1 whence he then1 with the aid of ,pancratz ,schwenter1 extracted many beautiful poems and illuminated them4 ,he was in all things not less accomplished and skilful than his aforesaid brother ,hermann1 and he too died in his prime40 ,now this young craftsman1 it would appear1 when the period of his 8wandering0 was at hand1 turned his feet1 like his fellow-townsman ,drer before him1 towards ,lombardy1 8the ,paradise of all arts40 ,his imagination1 doubtless1 had already been fired by what he had seen of the ,north ,italian ,renaissance in the treasures brought to ,nuremberg by merchants1 travellers and artists4 ,but the expenses of an ,italian tour were beyond the resources of the ,vischer household4 ,fortune and his father's friends were kind to him2 he was entrusted1 probably through the influence of ,sebald ,schreyer1 the historian and patron of art1 with the task of 8travelling0 the famous ,schedel-,weltchronik1 which had been published in #adib1 with illustrations by ,wolgemut and ,pleydenwurff4 ,booksellers' accounts enable us to trace the journey of the young craftsman4 ,he passed through ,como1 where the faade of the cathedral1 at that time in course of construction1 had many a lesson in the ,early ,renaissance style to teach him1 and he came to ,milan1 the metropolis of ,northern ,italy4 ,there he sold one hundred and ninety-one copies of the book1 and in the intervals of business he occupied himself with the study of the drawings of ,leonardo da ,vinci1 from which1 like many another artist since1 he learnt his first lessons in anatomy and proportion4 ,there also he may have acquired the art of medallion and plaquette work1 for it was about this time that he produced the first medallion which comes from the hand of a ,german craftsman--the portrait of his brother ,hermann1 dated #aejg4 ,from ,milan he went south4 ,he visited the ,certosa of ,pavia1 and he filled his sketch book with drawings from the faade of that luxuriant example of the ,early ,north ,italian ,renaissance4 ,he studied with especial care the figure of his patron saint1 and afterwards he reproduced it in the ,st4 ,peter of the ,sebaldusgrab4 ,thence he passed to ,genoa1 where he sold more books and studied1 perhaps1 the marble ,madonna of ,andrea ,sansovino4 ,and so home1 in #aejh1 by way of ,verona and ,venice4 ,inspired by what he had seen1 he brought new life and inspiration to the workshop at ,nuremberg4 ,the result of his journey was that he passed completely under the influence of ,italian art2 he was filled with that untrammelled revelling in existence and that unalloyed worship of the beautiful which is the keynote of the ,renaissance4 ,he had learnt the value of the study of the nude1 and he had seen1 as every artist must see1 the superiority of the ,italian over the ,bavarian model4 ,hereafter the tendency to discard the short and sturdy types of the school of ,krafft1 and to substitute more slender and more beautiful figures for the ,apostles is marked4 ,the results of this ,italian journey of his are clearly discernible not only in the ,sebaldusgrab1 but also in his own particular works1 in the two medallions of his brother ,hermann1 executed in #aejg and #aeaa2 and in that of himself in #aeji2 in the beautiful plaquettes1 8,orpheus and ,eurydice02 in the two inkstands and the ornamentation of the tomb of ,frederick the ,wise in ,wittenberg1 with which we shall presently deal4 ,footnote #d3 ,kunz ,rsner4 ,,ms4 #icc b4 ,library1 ,nuremberg4 ,footnote #e3 ,neudrffer4 ,remembering that picture of the father spending his holidays in drawing with his friends ,lindenast and ,krafft1 it is easy to imagine that the old man1 ever young1 enthusiastic1 humble and eager to learn1 readily appreciated and welcomed the revelations contained in the son's sketch books4 ,he was already at work upon a ,gothic shrine for ,st4 ,sebald's remains1 but he soon modified his original plan1 improving and enriching it by the light of this new learning4 ,ere the fires of that inspiration had yet begun to grow cold1 and before the ,sebaldusgrab was more than half finished1 another member of the family took yet another journey4 ,hermann1 the eldest son1 had married ,ursula ,mag in ,november of the year #aeac4 8,when his wife left him in death10 ,neudrffer tells us1 8he went for art's sake and at his own cost to ,rome1 and brought back with him much artistic material which he had sketched there1 and which greatly pleased his father and served as good practice for his brothers40 ,hermann himself died shortly after his return1 in the year #aeaf4 ,he was run over by a sleigh in ,st4 ,gilgen-strasse one night as he was returning to his home in the ,kornmarkt from the house of his friend ,wolfgang ,traut1 the painter1 and thus 8perished in his prime1 in sad and piteous wise40 ,but that journey of his had not been taken in vain4 ,his drawings revealed to the old burgher at home the further developments of art and some of the wonders of the full ,florentine-,roman ,renaissance4 ,the result can be traced in some of the figures on the ,sebaldusgrab1 and1 later1 in that complete acceptance of the revival of the antique which is expressed in the ,rathaus ,railing4 ,the idea of a shrine to contain the relics of ,st4 ,sebald had long been in contemplation1 as is proved by the existence of ,vischer's early model4 ,but funds lacked1 and it was not till a robbery was committed in the ,church in #aejf1 that a ,society of ,patricians and of the most important men in the town was formed to consider and provide for the carrying out of the long delayed plan4 ,men of wealth and learning1 piety and taste1 like ,sebald ,schreyer1 the devoted ,sacristan of the church1 ,anton ,tucher1 ,peter ,imhof and ,lazarus ,holzschuher formed a committee and took an active part in subscribing and collecting money for the purpose4 ,a spirit of generous rivalry with those of the ,saint ,laurence quarter1 whose church1 thanks to the piety of ,hans ,imhof1 had been adorned by the beautiful ,pyx wrought by ,adam ,krafft1 stimulated their zeal4 ,they subscribed and collected with such success that in the same year 7#aejg7 the commission was given to ,peter ,vischer4 ,two thousand gulden was the proposed cost1 and twenty gulden were allowed the ,meister for every hundred-weight of completed work1 8as in the case of the monuments in the ,cathedral at ,bamberg40 ,a payment of #ajj gulden was made to him on ,june #e1 #aejg4 ,his darling plan was1 then1 at last to be realized4 ,vischer threw himself into his work with an enthusiasm only equalled by his energy4 ,for twelve years he with his five sons laboured1 though their labour was often interrupted by want of funds4 ,private subscriptions failed to supply the cost even of the #aeg cwt4 of metal used4 ,at last1 when1 in #aeai1 ,anton ,tucher in moving words had told the citizens that they ought to subscribe the #hjj gulden still needed 8for the glory of ,god and ,his ,holy ,saint10 the money was forthcoming4 ,the monument was completed and the final payment for it made to ,vischer three years later4 ,elsewhere ,i have thus described it4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,st4 ,,sebald',s ,,church1 ,n,,rnberg #g4 ,,the ,,shrine ,,of ,,st4 ,,sebald 8,on the base of the shrine the ,master inscribed in his favourite ,gothic characters the following legend3--#8,peter ,vischer ,brger in ,nrnberg machet dieses ,werk1 mit seinen ,shnen1 ward volbracht im ,jahr1 #aeai4 ,ist allein ,gott dem allmchtigen zu lob und ,st4 ,sebald dem ,himmelsfrsten zu ehren1 mit ,hlf andchtiger ,leut von dem ,almosen bezahlt4' 8,that is the keynote of this wonderful structure4 ,through years of difficulty and distress the pious artist had toiled and struggled on with the help of pious persons1 paid by their voluntary contributions1 to complete a work 8to the praise of ,god ,almighty alone and the honour of ,st4 ,sebald40 ,no word1 one feels1 can add to the simple dignity and faith of that inscription4 ,it supplies us with the motive of the work1 and it supplies us also with the true interpretation of the various groups and figures which form the shrine4 ,to the glory of ,god1--we are shown how all the world1 all nature and her products1 all paganism with its heroic deeds and natural virtues1 the ,old ,dispensation with its prophets and lawgivers1 and the ,new1 with its apostles and saints1 pay homage to the ,infant ,christ1 the guardian genius bringing salvation1 who1 enthroned on the summit of the central cupola1 holds in his hands the terrestrial globe4 ,to the honour of ,st4 ,sebald1--the miniature ,gothic ,chapel enshrines beneath its richly fretted canopy1 fifteen feet high1 the oaken coffer encased in beaten plates of gold and silver in which lie the bones of ,st4 ,sebald2 and below this sarcophagus1 which dates from #acig1 are admirable bas-reliefs representing scenes and miracles from the life of the ,saint4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,st4 ,,sebald',s ,,church1 ,n,,rnberg #h4 ,,st4 ,,peter 8,around the substructure of the tomb rise eight slender piers1 bearing eight foliated arches1 which1 in turn1 support three perforated cupolas enriched with pillared and arched buttresses4 ,in the centre of these arches are placed richly ornamented candlesticks1 with candles of bronze1 and these also serve as supports and run out into leafy chalices on which graceful children play and swing4 ,the bases of the eight slender pillars are formed by all sorts of strange figures and creatures suggestive of the world of pagan mythology1 gods of the forest and of the sea1 nymphs of the water and the wood4 ,between them are some lions couchant which recall to the memory ,wolgemut's ,peringsdrffer altarpiece4 ,at the four corners are real candlesticks held by the most graceful and seductive winged mermaids1 with fish-tails and taloned feet1 about whom serpents twine4 ,but the most famous and the most beautiful figures are those of the twelve apostles1 which stand1 each about two feet high1 under delicate canopies1 on shafts of the piers already mentioned4 ,clad in graceful1 flowing robes1 their expression and whole attitude eloquent both of vigour and of tranquil dignity1 these statues are wholly admirable4 ,what sculpture or painting could convey to a higher degree the sense of the intellectual and moral beauty and strength which centred in these first followers of ,christ8 ,this characteristic pervades them all1 but the unity of suggestion is conveyed through a variety of individualities and of pose4 ,each ,apostle stands forth distinct in the vigour of his own inspired personality4 7,ill4 #h and #i47 8,above the apostles are set the ,fathers of the ,church1 or it may be1 the twelve minor prophets4 ,beneath them1 on the western end of the substructure is a noble statue of ,st4 ,sebald1 who holds in his hand a model of the church called after his name1 and at the corresponding place on the other end that statue of ,peter ,vischer himself1 to which we have already referred4 ,here1 in large ,latin characters we find the inscription #8,ein ,anfang durch mich' 7a beginning by me7 #8,peter ,vischer1 #aejh1' and under ,st4 ,sebald the record of the completion of the base3 #8,gemacht von ,peter ,vischer1 #aeji4' ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,st4 ,,sebald',s ,,church1 ,n,,rnberg #i4 ,,st4 ,,sebald 8,on the base1 at the foot of the four corner pillars1 are the nude figures of ,nimrod with his bow and quiver1 of ,samson with the slaughtered lion and the jawbone of an ass1 ,perseus with sword and shield and in company of a mouse1 ,hercules with a club4 ,between these heroes1 in the centre of either side1 are female figures emblematic of the four cardinal virtues of mankind--,strength in a coat of mail with a lion1 ,temperance with a bowl and globe4 ,wisdom with mirror and book1 and ,justice with sword and scales4 ,in all1 besides the apostles and prophets1 there are seventy-two figures1 in the presentation of which amidst flowers and foliage the joyful1 exuberant fancy of the artist and his helpers has run riot4 ,but there is1 as ,i have suggested1 a well-conceived plan and unity throughout2 an intimate correspondence1 in spite of the variety of groups1 between the parts and the whole4 ,everything is subordinated to the two central ideas which animate the whole1 and everything executed with a delicacy of feeling and a fineness of finish little short of marvellous4 ,the whole fabric rests upon twelve large snails1 with four dolphins at the corners40 ,the bronze is1 apparently1 just as it left the mould4 ,it has not been filed and chiselled and smoothed and polished after the modern fashion1 and it has therefore lost nothing of the vigour and character of the lines as they were originally shaped by the craftsmen's hands4 ,the very roughnesses are commendable4 ,when ,peter ,vischer received the commission to produce this great memorial of the municipal ,saint the lines on which it should be wrought were marked out for him by the traditions of his house and of his art4 ,the sarcophagus should be placed1 according to his old design1 upon a base adorned with reliefs illustrating the miracles of the ,saint2 figures of apostles should guard the coffin1 and above it should rise a canopy of lofty fretted ,gothic pinnacles4 ,now this original design was for a shrine intended to be over forty feet high1 and something after the manner of ,adam ,krafft's ,pyx4 ,on this1 or rather on some slight modification of it1 he began to work1 and1 as he went on1 introduced very important alterations under the influence of his sons' new knowledge4 ,it is due to this process of modification probably that we have to pass the criticism on the ,sebaldusgrab that the parts are greater than the whole1 though the beauty and finish of the details are so great that1 once we are within range of their charm1 we forget and forgive any fault in the proportionment of the complete structure4 ,beginning with the base1 most likely at that end where the statue of himself in his leather apron is to be seen1 and where the inscription 8,beginning by me1 #aejh10 may be read1 ,vischer made such good progress with the work that by #aeab ,cocleus could write of it in his ,cosmographia with amiable exaggeration2--8,quis vero solertior ,petro ,fischer in celandis fundendisque metallis8 ,vidi ego totum sacellum ab eo in aes fusum imaginibusque celatum1 in quo multi sane mortales stare missamque audire poterunt40 7,what more skilful founder is there than ,peter ,vischer8 ,i myself have seen a whole chapel cast by him in bronze and covered with statues1 wherein indeed many people will be able to stand and hear mass47 ,the chapel then and many of the figures were completed or nearly completed by that date4 ,the alteration of the design to that of this single separate chapel containing the sarcophagus was doubtless due to the journey of ,peter ,vischer the younger and the examples of ,italian tombs1 which he had observed1 for instance1 in the ,certosa and in the ,cathedral of ,pavia4 ,in every part we notice how the ,gothic skeleton has been modified or has been clothed with all kinds of decoration in the ,renaissance style4 ,the ,gothic pillars1 indeed1 are retained1 and the pilasters2 but these are richly ornamented4 ,cupolas1 too1 have taken the place of the fretted ,gothic pinnacles1 but yet in the details of their construction1 in their flying buttresses and arched openings1 the original ,gothic design has clearly been used and fused with the new ,renaissance models1 yielding that architectural effect of mixed ,romanesque and ,gothic styles1 of which ,cologne and ,mainz afford1 among many1 the most obvious examples4 ,the figures of beasts and children found in the original are retained but changed4 ,they are executed in the full spirit of the ,renaissance1 looking back to mythology4 ,we have ,cupids now and ,genii1 ,tritons and ,sirens1 and in place of the ,gothic crab the ,renaissance dolphin4 ,the ornamentation of the candlesticks is completely ,italianate4 ,the slender1 graceful columns which hold the candelabra are decorated now with a continually varying luxuriance of ornament1 recalling in form a hundred details at ,como1 at ,bergamo and at the ,certosa of ,pavia4 ,in the case of the mythological figures there is no caricature2 there are none of the monstrosities in which ,german art usually revelled when dealing with such subjects4 ,the artist has gone straight to ,italy1 to the source of the new springs of knowledge and of the new-born delight in the gods of old days4 ,there is1 too1 an inexhaustible fecundity of pose4 ,scarce one beast or child is the same4 ,you might almost suppose that the artist had aimed at giving us an encyclopdia of ,nature1 showing that all-embracing enthusiasm which rendered so many of the great minds of the ,renaissance eager to excel in every department of knowledge4 ,each minutest figure also displays a masterly grip of anatomy1 proportion and perspective1 and here we clearly recognize the student of ,leonardo da ,vinci's drawings4 ,the figures of the four heroes and of the lute-player are of the school of ,leonardo in pose1 in modelling and in drapery1 whilst the ,marsyas may be traced1 as ,seeger thinks1 to a woodcut in a ,venetian edition of ,ovid's ,metamorphoses 7#adig74 ,the soft1 transparent handling of the drapery is1 generally speaking1 wholly un-,german4 ,for1 until the epoch roughly marked for us by the great ,adam and ,eve of ,albert ,drer1 the study of the nude played but a small part in the labours of the ,german artists1 and they did not trust themselves to use drapery as a means of revealing the form beneath4 ,their study of anatomy had so far been concentrated upon heads and hands and feet1 and they treated drapery with exceeding care both as an aim and object in itself1 and1 more than a little1 as a useful screen for defective bodies4 ,but they were beginning to appreciate now the endeavours of a ,jacopo de' ,barbari to reveal the nude form through the drapery of his figures4 ,and to achieve this end ,vischer1 like ,drer1 had realised that a study of anatomy and the careful drawing of the contours of the body are necessary4 ,in some cases the drapery of the female figures1 as1 for instance1 of those in the relief which illustrates the miracle of the 8,icicles10 directly suggests the manner of ,barbari1 but in the miracle of the 8,healing of the ,blind ,man0 the artist has modelled his work on the antique4 ,thus he has taken the further step of the ,italians who1 after struggling to reproduce the perfections of the human body1 and recognizing how far short of classic art they fell1 had turned to regenerate the antique1 and so gave rise to the true ,renaissance which is the new birth of the old4 ,between one pair of the four reliefs dealing with the miracles of ,st4 ,sebald and the other there is so marked a difference in manner and style that ,i do not think we can be far wrong if we attribute1 with ,seeger1 that of the 8,icicles0 and the 8,healing of the ,blind ,man0 to ,peter ,vischer the younger1 and the others1 especially and certainly that of the 8,punishment of the ,unbeliever0 to his father4 ,the particular point which strikes one as most admirable1 and which is in greater or less degree common to all of them1 is the simplicity of the grouping and the avoidance of that sin of overcrowding which beset so many artists of the day4 7,ill4 #aj and #aa47 ,the miracles of ,st4 ,sebald which were chosen as subjects for these reliefs are1 briefly1 the following4 ,st4 ,sebald was the son of a ,danish king who had renounced the things of this world in favour of the chaste and solitary life of a hermit4 ,he afterwards made his way to ,rome and was sent forth thence by ,pope ,gregory the ,second to preach the ,gospel in ,germany4 ,on his way he abode for a while at ,vicenza1 and there one day he received a visitor for whom he ordered his disciple ,dionis to bring the pitcher of wine4 ,dionis hesitated1 for he had allowed himself to partake of the wine the night before1 and he feared detection4 ,but when the order was repeated he went to fetch the pitcher1 and behold1 he found it filled again to the brim4 ,the fame of the hermit spread abroad4 ,from far and near1 even from ,milan and ,pavia1 people flocked to hear from his lips the wonderful works of ,god4 ,but amongst those who came1 came also an unbeliever1 who scoffed and blasphemed at the prophet and his message4 ,then ,sebald prayed to ,god that a sign might be given to prove his doctrine true1 and immediately1 in the sight of all1 the earth opened and the scoffer sank up to his neck4 ,then the hermit prayed with a loud voice and interceded for him1 so that he was delivered1 and he and many of the unbelievers embraced the true faith4 7,ill4 #aj47 ,sebald now left ,italy and came at last to ,nuremberg4 ,he settled there in the forest in the heart of the ,franconian people1 teaching them the word of ,god and working miracles4 ,on one occasion we are told he sought shelter in the hut of a poor and churlish waggoner4 ,it was winter3 the snow lay on the ground and the wind howled over the frozen marshes of the ,pegnitz4 ,but the signs of charity did not shine brightly in the host4 ,sebald called upon the man's wife to bring more wood for the fire so that he might warm his body1 for he was chilled to the bone4 ,but though he repeated his request the niggard host forbade his wife to obey4 ,at length the saint cried out to her to bring the cluster of icicles which hung from the roof and to put them on the fire if she could not or would not bring the faggots4 ,the woman1 pitying him1 obeyed1 and1 in answer to the prayer of ,sebald1 a flame shot up from the ice as from a firebrand and the whole bundle was quickly ablaze4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,relief ,,from ,,the ,,sebaldusgrab1 ,,st4 ,,sebald',s ,,church1 ,n,,rnberg #aj4 ,,st4 ,,sebald ,,punishes ,,an ,,unbeliever ,when he saw this miracle the chilly host gave the hermit a warmer welcome1 and1 to make amends for his former lack of hospitality1 he sallied forth to buy some fish in the market1 contrary to the regulations of the authorities4 ,being caught he was blinded1 but the holy hermit quickly restored to him the light of his eyes4 7,ill4 #aa47 ,so potent was the saint on whose shrine ,peter ,vischer was now at work--that shrine to which1 says ,eobanus ,hessus in his poem on ,nuremberg1 no words can do justice and with which not even the greatest artists of antiquity could have found fault2 8,musa nec ulla queat tanto satis esse labori ,nec verbis quare opus immortale futurum2 ,quod neque ,praxiteles1 nec ,myron nec ,polycletus1 ,nemo ,cares1 nemo ,scopas reprehendere posset40 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,relief ,,from ,,sebaldusgrab1 ,,st4 ,,sebald',s ,,church1 ,n,,rnberg #aa4 ,,st4 ,,sebald ,,healing ,,the ,,blind ,,man ,now in the style of the reliefs which record the miracles we have related1 there is a marked divergence4 ,even the figure of the saint is not uniformly conceived4 ,we may conclude that we have on the one hand in the 8,punishment of the ,unbeliever0 undoubtedly the work of ,peter ,vischer1 the father4 ,the craftsman was still clearly under the influence of ,adam ,krafft and his school4 ,for the personages of the little drama which he wished to depict are presented to us as simple ,nurembergers of every day1 and they are portrayed in a spirit of very homely realism4 ,similar in style is the treatment of the miracle of the 8,wine in the ,bowl10 where1 equally with the above1 the handling of the drapery is thoroughly in the manner of the old ,founder4 ,on the other hand1 the relief which represents the 8,miracle of the ,icicles0 is probably by ,peter ,vischer the younger4 ,for the modelling of the female figures there distinctly reminds us1 in drapery and in pose of the head and body1 of the ,eurydice in his 8,orpheus and ,eurydice10 of the ,vita in his inkstands1 and of the flute-player in the ,sebaldusgrab4 ,and by him1 also1 is the 8,healing of the ,blind ,man10 which is by far the finest of the four reliefs4 ,there is a movement in the whole and a unity in the composition quite admirable1 whilst the cautious1 tentative gait of the suddenly blinded man1 not yet accustomed to the eternal darkness which has come upon him1 is indicated with a delicacy and sureness of touch which proclaim a truly great and original artist4 ,in the treatment of the drapery on the moving figures we read the result of his study of the antique4 ,it is used to indicate and to explain the movement that is taking place4 ,and very noticeable is the seizing of the dramatic moment1 which is a conspicuous characteristic of the artist of 8,orpheus and ,eurydice40 ,in the portrayal of the apostles on the ,sebaldusgrab ,vischer and his sons have attained the perfect expression of the ideal after which the father had vainly striven in the monument at ,magdeburg4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,st4 ,,sebald',s ,,church1 ,n,,rnberg #ab4 ,,st4 ,,paul ,in every way the advance made by the artist since he wrought that early masterpiece is noticeable4 ,the apostles here1 unlike those in the original design1 and unlike1 also1 those on the tomb of ,archbishop ,ernst1 are not standing gazing straight in front of them in holy1 unconscious calm1 but a certain relation has been established between some of the pairs4 ,that relation has not been established indeed with mathematical precision1 but with an art that succeeds in producing the effect of nature4 ,take1 for instance1 the figures of ,paul and ,philip1 which are represented in the act of earnest conversation1 or those of ,thomas and ,james the ,less1 which suggest men who are busy with their own thoughts1 but are composed so as to be in complete harmony with those of the neighbouring apostles4 ,the figures are skilfully arranged also so as to produce a harmonious contrast with the twelve patriarchs above them4 ,we noticed in the apostles of the ,magdeburg monument a distinct lack of variety in pose1 especially of arms and hands4 ,the figures there were stiff and lacking in grace1 but these are full of fire and movement4 ,the figures there were over short4 ,they were the types of ,adam ,krafft and the ,nuremberg school4 ,but these1 in greater or less degree1 are ,renaissance types of comparative litheness1 and inspired with life and intelligence4 ,in breaking away from the traditions of ,veit ,stoss and ,adam ,krafft the artist has advanced to a notable extent beyond them1 and even beyond ,drer in most cases1 in the quality of spirituality which he has learnt to impress upon his work4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,st4 ,,sebald',s ,,church1 ,nrnberg #ac4 ,,st4 ,,bartholomew ,a similar development is noticeable in the drapery4 ,the apostles at ,magdeburg are clad in the heavy1 wooden garments of the old school1 whilst those of the ,sebaldusgrab are draped in fine folds which fall in soft curves over bodies anatomically correct4 ,we cannot1 perhaps1 determine with certainty which of the ,vischer family is responsible for each figure4 ,but where we find one recalling in pose and drapery the motives of the ,magdeburg tomb we may safely attribute it to the father4 ,he was fond of horizontal folds and much affected that motive of a mantle which consists in its being thrown over and falling from the right arm and resting on the left shoulder4 ,his handling of hair is also distinctive4 ,he preferred to provide his statues with masses of luxuriant hair and beard and moustaches4 ,his noblest achievement is the figure of the ,apostle ,andrew4 ,to ,peter ,vischer the younger we may attribute the representation of his patron saint4 ,this1 as ,dr4 ,seeger has pointed out1 is based on a recollection or a drawing of the figure of that ,apostle on the faade of the ,certosa di ,pavia1 modified by the individuality of the present artist and adapted to the exigencies of this shrine4 ,it is an absolutely different type from that on the ,magdeburg tomb1 which had more in common with the ,st4 ,peter of old ,hermann on the ,font at ,wittenberg4 ,there the head1 to take one point1 is larger and adorned with a heavy mass of luxuriant curling hair and beard4 ,but the head of this ,apostle is small and fine2 the eyes deep set1 the neck sinewy4 ,the loose and admirable fall of the drapery is in the new manner4 ,and with that nervous grasp of the key1 that searching gaze1 those wrinkled and contracted brows1 the youthful craftsman has nobly represented his patron ,saint1 ,peter the bald1 intellectual ,keeper of the ,gates of ,heaven4 ,completely different again in type and treatment is the figure of the ,apostle ,bartholomew4 7,ill4 #ac47 ,it smacks of ,rome1 and ,roman too is ,simon4 ,these1 we should naturally hazard1 were the work of ,hermann the eldest son1 after his return from his ,rom-reise in #aeaf4 ,and in this theory we are confirmed by a passage in a manuscript in the ,nuremberg ,town ,library1 which tells us that 8,hermann ,vischer alone made the ,apostle ,bartholomew and several tabernacles10 as1 for instance1 without doubt that ,roman triumphal arch above the statue of ,st4 ,paul4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,tomb ,,of ,,maximilian ,,art has been always1 more or less1 dependent upon the patronage of the rich and great4 ,and the warm interest evinced in the ,arts and ,crafts by the ,emperor ,maximilian1 the 8last of the ,knights10 did not a little to provoke that outburst of artistic excellence which distinguished ,nuremberg at this time2 where the names of ,drer1 ,vischer1 and ,krafft shine out pre-eminent among many lesser lights4 ,maximilian was in many ways the epitome of his age1 the personification of the ,renaissance4 ,soldier and man of letters1 administrator and theologian1 athlete and scholar1 he yet found time to encourage artists and to devise and commission innumerable works of art4 ,he was1 in fact1 as ,albert ,drer found to his cost1 more ready to give commissions than to pay for them when performed4 ,at ,nuremberg he frequently employed ,veit ,stoss2 he had a considerable share in the production of the ,weisskunig and the ,theuerdank1 a poem describing allegorically the private life and ideals of the ,emperor1 which was polished and completed by his secretary ,melchior ,pfinzing1 ,provost of ,st4 ,sebald's ,church4 ,he conceived and commissioned amongst other works ,albert ,drer's colossal wood-engraving1 the ,triumphal ,arch1 which was designed1 as usual1 for the glorification of this greatest of princes4 ,wherever he happened to be1 at ,augsburg1 ,innsbruck1 ,nuremberg or ,prague1 in the course of the conduct of one of his innumerable wars or of a tourney1 whilst administering justice1 repressing the chivalrous brigandage of petty lords or bleeding a ,bamberg banker1 his eye was always quick to perceive the merit of any craftsman4 ,chroniclers repeatedly record his morning rides in a town1 and describe the visits which he would pay to the houses of half-a-dozen craftsmen in a day1 buying and ordering costly works of art4 ,he came to visit also the home of that already celebrated yet always modest and unpretending ,founder1 ,peter ,vischer1 8to whom ,princes esteemed it an honour to do honour40 ,maximilian had before now shown a practical interest in bronze work1 and had incidentally displayed his appreciation of ,vischer4 ,for when he was starting a ,foundry at ,mhlau1 near ,innsbruck1 he had had it in contemplation to appoint the 8geschickligisten und berichtisten ,rotschmied0--the most skilful and famous coppersmith of ,nuremberg--,peter ,vischer to wit1 to superintend the establishment thereof4 ,but ,peter had declined the honour1 and ,stefan ,godl from ,nuremberg was appointed in his stead4 ,now the teeming brain of ,maximilian--for whom no plan for his own exaltation was too grandiose1 and no project for the advancement of his fame was to be despised--conceived the idea of building for himself a lordly tomb1 wherein1 after he had been gathered to his forefathers1 he might rest1 surrounded by the forms of those who had gone to his making4 ,to-day twenty-eight bronze over life-size figures of ancient heroes stand round and guard the ,emperor's cenotaph at ,innsbruck4 ,two of these are most markedly superior to the rest as works of art2 and these two come from the foundry of ,peter ,vischer4 ,they are the statues of ,king ,arthur1 the very perfect flower of chivalry 7,ill4 #ae71 and of ,theodoric1 ,king of the ,goths4 7,ill4 #ad47 ,documentary evidence reveals the fact that in the year #aeac ,peter ,vischer the elder received from the imperial chest one thousand florins for 8zwei grosse messene ,pillder0 7two large bronze figures74 ,but apart from the teaching of the archives their resemblance to the other works of this foundry leaves no doubt as to the origin of these noble figures4 ,in feeling1 in poetry1 in grace1 as well as in the minute and exquisite finish of the detail1 they are indeed worthy of the blossom period of the house of ,vischer4 ,both figures are eloquent of the artist's joy in production1 and not of the tradesman's mere delight in a commission4 ,not that the ,vischers were at all to seek on the business side of their craft2 they worked1 as the modern dealer would express it1 with punctuality1 cheapness and despatch4 ,in artistic excellence1 as well as in these other important qualities1 they far surpassed the labours of the ,mhlau ,founder1 who had secured the commission for all1 or almost all1 the other statues for the tomb of ,maximilian4 ,the ,emperor himself1 it is recorded1 recognized this fact2 for he remarked 7,april #af1 #aeac71 8,fr die #c1jjj fl4 auf welche das bis dahin gegossene einzige ,bild ,sesselschreiber zu stehen komme1 in ,nrnberg sechs ,bilder htte giessen lassen knnen40 7,for the #c1jjj florins to which the one statue hitherto cast by ,sesselschreiber amounts1 six statues might have been cast at ,nuremberg47 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,maximilian1 ,,innsbruck #ad4 ,,theodoric1 ,,king ,,of ,,the ,,goths ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,maximilian1 ,,innsbruck #ae4 ,,king ,,arthur ,both the statues that hail from ,nuremberg are extremely beautiful1 but they are noticeably different in style4 ,they differ so much in that unconscious revelation of the artist's hand1 which distinguishes every piece of human work1 that ,i am strongly inclined to accept ,dr4 ,seeger's view1 that whilst ,peter ,vischer the father wrought ,theodoric1 ,king of the ,goths1 it is to his son and namesake1 ,peter ,vischer the younger1 that we owe the statue of ,king ,arthur4 ,theodoric leans on his sword and shield in a pose that is beautiful and imaginative1 it is true1 but in the execution slightly forced4 ,this figure is weaker and more conventional1 less full of life and vigour than that of the ,king ,arthur4 ,seeger fancies that we can trace in it something of the uneasiness felt by the old craftsman when essaying a new style1 and that there is discernible here the slight hesitation and misgiving of one who fears that he is attempting what is beyond his strength4 ,certainly we get no such impression when we turn to the splendid strenuous figure of ,arthur4 ,this is the ,arthur whom we know1 in all the splendour of his manhood1 bold and free1 the noblest flower of chivalry2 ,arthur1 the very perfect knight1 pure1 serene in the confidence of his own faith and right1 brooking no challenge and no wrong4 ,here ,beauty and ,strength have kissed one another2 and the spring of this youthful figure1 nimble and light of limb1 betrays itself even through the hard1 straight lines of the heavy1 rich armour it bears4 ,it is the type of the noble ,teuton of all time1 drawn by an artist who had studied the nude and ,italian plastic art1 and was full of the vigour and confidence of his own youthful ideal4 ,for this bronze surely conveys that conviction of agility for a moment at rest1 which you may derive from the sight of a ,greek marble or the lithe figure of a modern athlete4 ,and is there not also here something 8of that marvellous gesture of moving himself within the0 bronze1 which ,vasari so finely attributed to the ,st4 ,george of ,donatello8 ,there may perhaps be in this figure a touch of exaggeration which is so splendidly absent from that supreme triumph of the ,renaissance2 it is certainly more virile and it may be more brutal2 but it is enough to claim for ,vischer that in this noble creation he challenges comparison with 8the ,master of those who know40 ,doubtless1 indeed1 both his ,arthur and his ,st4 ,peter of the ,sebaldusgrab owe not a little to the masterpiece of ,donatello4 ,but the beauty of the figure and pose of ,king ,arthur is not all4 ,it need not blind us to the exquisite ornamentation of the armour1 which1 unlike that of ,theodoric1 is rich with the richness of the ,north ,italian ,renaissance4 ,the dragons thereon are full of life1 and the chain of the ,order of the ,golden ,fleece1 and all the other minute details of the decoration1 are as notable for the fecundity of invention as for the skill in execution which they display4 ,these two heroic figures were completed by the ,vischer family as early as the year #aeac1 but they did not reach the place for which they had been destined till some ten years later1 for the ,emperor kept them at ,augsburg4 ,and even after they had arrived at ,innsbruck and been set in position there1 they were not left in peace4 ,a great danger threatened ,theodoric in #aedh1 for it did not square with ,charles ,v4's conception of the order of the ,universe that the king of the ,goths should be found among the ancestors of the ,hapsburgs4 ,he therefore gave orders that his statue should either be recast or at least be renamed4 ,fortunately neither of these things got itself done4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,tucher ,,monument ,,and ,,the ,,nuremberg ,,madonna ,,the absorbing interest and labour of the ,sebaldusgrab did not by any means exhaust the energies and enterprise of ,vischer and his house4 ,that want of money1 which has been the source of innumerable works of art1 combined with the artist's restless striving after new forms of self-expression1 prompted the production of many another bronze during this span of years4 ,we have seen that the heroic figures of ,arthur and ,theodoric were completed in the year #aeac1 and to that year also belongs the original design for the ,rathaus ,railing1 the chequered and disastrous history of which we shall describe later4 ,now it was proposed to found a monument to perpetuate the memory of a famous ,doctor of ,law 78su tatis ,jureconsultorum facile princeps10 says the inscription71 one ,henning ,goden1 ,provost of ,wittenberg and ,prebendary of ,erfurt4 ,peter ,vischer was entrusted with its execution1 and it was erected in #aeba at ,erfurt and1 in duplicate1 at ,wittenberg4 ,the subject chosen was that of the crowning of ,mary4 ,the ,madonna is represented kneeling on the clouds2 her hands are folded in prayer and her rich tresses float round a nobly beautiful head and stream over her shoulders4 ,she is in the act of being crowned by ,god the ,father and ,god the ,son1 who sit enthroned on either side of the ,virgin ,mother4 ,the ,holy ,dove hovers above her4 ,two characteristic but excessively plump little angels playing musical instruments in either corner fill up the spaces left by the curving scroll work above1 whilst at the feet of the ,madonna the ,prebendary kneels1 supported by his patron saint1 ,st4 ,john1 whose hand is laid upon his shoulder4 ,clouds and angels complete the foreground4 ,of this tomb-plate ,lbke writes3 8,the simple beauty of the composition1 the broad1 free style of the drapery1 the noble loftiness in form and expression of the heads1 especially of ,god the ,father1 place this work in the ranks of the noblest creations of ,german art at that date40 ,the memorial certainly does bear unmistakable signs of ,peter ,vischer's handiwork1 but it is impossible not to feel that in many points1 as for instance the articulation of the hands and feet1 and the anatomy of the body in the case of the figure of ,christ1 it is decidedly inferior to the best work of the house of ,vischer4 ,compare it with the beautiful tomb-plate of ,frau ,margarete ,tucher in the cathedral at ,regensburg 7,ratisbon7 and the difference in manner and technique at once leaps to the eye4 ,yet this memorial also was made in #aeba4 7,ill4 #af47 ,it can hardly have been designed by the same hand1 although this1 like the monument of the ,eissen family in the ,church of ,st4 gidius at ,nuremberg1 to which it is near akin1 certainly came from the ,vischer foundry1 for it bears the mark and signature #ad,p#hh4 ,normberge4 #aeba4 ,but the trade-mark between these two initials is substantially the same as that found on the inkstand of #aebe4 ,we have no choice1 then1 but to follow ,bergau and ,seeger and to attribute these two former works1 in great part at any rate1 to ,peter ,vischer the younger4 ,and1 indeed1 they exhibit to a high degree all those qualities which are most characteristic of his work4 ,there is a rhythmic balance in the composition which at once recalls the reliefs on the ,sebaldusgrab attributed to him4 ,here again the artist has seized a fine moment in the dramatic incident he wishes to portray4 ,he has harmonized and subordinated all the characters of that pathetic scene when ,christ met the sisters of the dead ,lazarus4 ,the noble figure of the ,christ who has stepped forward to listen to and to grant the prayer of the bereaved sister forms the centre of a picture whereof the disputing ,apostles and the sorrowing women are the necessary complement4 ,with regard to the ,apostles themselves it only requires a moment's comparison to demonstrate that their figures are mere modifications of those on the ,sebaldusgrab1 and they may have been wrought by any member of the family1 therefore1 or even by an assistant4 ,for the craftsmen of those days were obliged to take a frankly business view of their handiwork4 ,michel ,wolgemut left much in each of his pictures to be done by his pupils and assistants1 and ,drer1 too1 following his master's custom was1 in too many cases1 forced to adopt the same practice4 ,for a man must live1 and ,drer found that his careful and elaborate style of painting was simply beggaring him4 ,the commissions received by the ,vischer family were necessarily executed after something of the same spirit4 ,the design would be sketched out by the old man or one of his sons1 or1 again1 by him and his sons in part and in consultation4 ,then whilst the more skilful of them wrought the more important figures and details of the piece1 the subsidiary details and characters would be left to the 'prentice hands4 ,in the case of the ,tucher monument the task of supplying the ,apostle figures must have fallen to one of these1 and he would naturally base them upon the famous masterpieces of the ,house in that line4 ,but in the noble figure of the ,christ1 in the poise and the moulding of the head1 and in that spiritual searching gaze with which the ,saviour seems to be looking into the very heart of ,lazarus' sister and gauging her faith1 we cannot fail to recognize the style of the creator of the ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,john of the ,sebaldusgrab1 and of the author of the ,orpheus of the ,plaquettes4 ,equally true is this of the modelling1 pose and drapery of the female figures1 to which particular attention should be given4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,cathedral1 ,,ratisbon #af4 ,,meeting ,,of ,,christ ,,with ,,the ,,sisters ,,of ,,lazarus 7,tucher ,monument7 ,the background1 too1 is the work of a ,master1 and the gradual deepening of the relief is worked out with a skill and confidence which argues that it is the work of a ,master who has made a considerable study of perspective4 ,the treatment of perspective and the very low relief are indeed entirely in the manner of the early ,florentine ,renaissance4 ,the same influence is discernible in the style of the architecture in the background4 ,it is interesting to note the favourite device of a ,perugino or a ,raphael reproduced in the cupola-crowned building which serves as a finish to the picture4 ,it was not for nothing that ,hermann ,vischer had made his journey south some years before1 and returned laden with those sketches which 8delighted his old father and provided practice for his brothers40 ,the deviser of this temple and of those framing pillars with their ,corinthian capitals has learnt many a lesson recently from his brother's work4 ,in the monument of the ,eissen family which is placed in the ,church of ,st4 gidius at ,nuremberg1 and belongs to the year #aebb1 we have a work which must be by the same hand as that which designed the ,tucher memorial4 ,the similarity of the signature and of the style is convincing testimony4 ,the subject is the favourite ,piet1 the lamentation over ,christ's body after the descent from the ,cross4 ,here we have the figures of the faithful women1 and of ,john the beloved disciple1 and ,joseph of ,arimathea mourning1 whilst ,nicodemus is reverently wrapping the corpse in the cerements of the grave4 ,once more in composing his subject the artist has seized the dramatic moment4 ,the eyes of all these faithful followers are fixed upon the dead body of their ,lord4 ,their gestures and their expressions betoken the intense grief of each1 and each has his place and share in the divine tragedy4 ,the unity thus attained is heightened by the dramatic contrast of the one person1 the servant1 who stares at the body1 unaffected save by vulgar curiosity1 all unaware that she is in the presence of the world's most grievous and most wonderful mystery4 7,ill4 #ag47 ,the figure and head of ,joseph of ,arimathea are nobly beautiful1 and1 like the drapery1 remind us of the ,st4 ,peter on the ,sebaldusgrab4 ,his outstretched hands are eloquent of sorrow and1 in common with those of the women who kneel behind their ,master1 they speak to a study of ,italian art and of the drawings of ,leonardo da ,vinci4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,st4 ,,gidius ,,church1 ,n,,rnberg #ag4 ,,beweinung ,,christi 7,eissen ,memorial7 ,the ,christ in this monument resembles in the treatment of the eyes1 and the hair and in the moulding of the head that of the ,tucher memorial of the previous year4 ,the body is foreshortened1 and the foreshortening cannot be termed altogether successful4 ,but successful to an extraordinary degree is the spiritual1 sympathetic expression of the countenance1 and indicative of a poet's sympathy with sorrow1 and his power of showing it1 is that down-hanging arm1 masterly executed in strong relief4 ,the young ,peter ,vischer had known much sorrow1 and was acquainted with grief beyond his years4 ,the bereavements of his father1 the loss of his brother's wife1 and afterwards of his brother ,hermann himself1 must have touched his poet's heart and deepened his powers of sympathetic imagination4 ,the strong stirring of religious emotion which was at this time abroad in the land would tend still further to chasten the exuberant joyousness of his youthful spirit1 and to bring him into touch with the more serious aspects of life4 ,neudrffer has recorded for us his love of the poetical side of life2 his own ,aquarelle on the ,reformation proves the seriousness of his interest in the great religious question of the day1 and the evidence of the development of his powers in his own undoubted works of art is potent to demonstrate his enthusiasm for learning4 ,remembering these facts let us compare for a moment with the sisters of ,lazarus in the ,tucher memorial1 that superb work of art in the ,germanic ,museum at ,nuremberg1 which is known as the 8,praying ,madonna40 7,ill4 #ah47 ,illustration3 ,,museum1 ,n,,rnberg #ah4 ,,the ,,nuremberg ,,madonna 8,no second glance is required to assure us that we have here not only the chef-d'uvre of ,nuremberg carving1 but also one of the works of art of all time4 ,and yet the name of the master is unknown1 and the very date of the work is a matter of dispute4 ,clearly the beautiful female figure of this sorrowing ,mary1 this praying ,madonna as she is called 7trauende1 betende ,maria7 once formed one of a group1 and stood facing ,st4 ,john at the foot of the ,cross1 gazing upwards in that bitter grief which is beyond the expression and abandonment of tears4 ,who can that artist have been who could select that pose of the head1 that poise of the limbs1 who could carve those robes1 which1 in purity and flow have never been surpassed in ,german art1 and who could express in the suppliant hands such poignant emotion8 ,man weiss nicht6 ,and whose touch was so delicate that with his chisel he could stamp on the upturned face those mingled feelings of sorrow so supreme1 yearning so intense1 love so human1 hope so divine8 ,for all this we can read there still1 even through the grey-green coat of paint which certainly had no place in the original intentions of the artist4 ,man weiss nicht6 ,but this much one may hazard--that it was some ,german artist1 touched by the spirit of the ,italian ,renaissance till he rose to heights of artistic performance never elsewhere attained by him1 and scarcely ever approached by his fellows40 ,so ,i have written elsewhere of this beautiful gem of ,german art4 ,but is it so certain that the author is unknown8 ,the temptation to attribute it to ,peter ,vischer the younger is extremely strong1 especially when we compare it with the figure of ,lazarus' sister4 ,it has1 at different times and by various writers1 been attributed to almost every conceivable ,german craftsman--to ,adam ,krafft1 of course1 and to ,veit ,stoss in turn1 amongst others4 ,but the work of none of these artists approaches the style1 the beauty1 the refinement of this figure1 and is1 in many essentials1 distinctly opposed thereto4 ,but if it is not by these1 can it be by ,peter ,vischer's great son8 ,the theory1 it must be confessed1 is more probable than provable4 ,we can only say that in his greatest moment he might have done this thing1 in making a model for a projected bronze figure4 ,for the creator of the ,king ,arthur at ,innsbruck must be conceded to be potentially capable of any masterpiece in this kind1 and the ,madonna is not beyond the limits of his power4 ,the slenderness of the figure is a point in favour of this authorship1 and not1 as has been argued1 in opposition to it1 for there is noticeable in the female figures of the young ,peter ,vischer1 an increasing tendency to discard the squat ,bavarian type and to adopt the slenderer proportions of the ,italian model4 ,observe1 further1 that in the fall of the drapery of the ,madonna there is nothing of severity1 nothing of distortion as in other carvings of the same period by other hands4 ,rather do the sweep and movement of it recall that of certain of the apostles of the ,sebaldusgrab and the arrangement of it as regards the feet is similar4 ,it may1 in fact1 be stated1 without fear of contradiction1 that the serpentine sweep and the arrangement of the drapery1 drawn tight over the right leg and covering1 as it does1 the thrust out foot below1 is a motive practically confined in the ,german art of that period to the works of the ,house of ,vischer4 ,it reminds us of the ,apostles in ,st4 ,sebald's church3 it is repeated emphatically in the fall of the drapery of the sisters of ,lazarus4 ,and surely the pose of the sister of ,lazarus on the left hand and that of the ,madonna is substantially the same1 although1 in the case of the latter1 it has been refined and improved4 ,that pose of the bent leg is one of the most beautiful and eloquent of all the positions of the human body4#f ,but the similarity does not end there4 ,footnote #f3 ,that it was a favourite one with the young ,vischer may be seen by comparing the female figures of the ,inkstands1 pp4 #if1 #ig4 ,the right leg1 the left arm and hand resting on the hip1 the poise of the head and the style of dress are all in the same manner4 ,nothing1 again1 is more characteristic of an artist than his treatment of hands4 ,and with those expressive hands of the ,madonna we may confidently compare the hands of the woman who is behind the body of ,christ or the hands of ,joseph in the ,piet of #aebb1 or the hands of ,st4 ,john in the ,sebaldusgrab1 or of the female figure on the inkstand of #aebe4 ,vischer-like also is the pure1 refined expression and type of face1 which recalls on the one hand the yearning gaze of the aforesaid figure1 and the soulful look of ,eurydice on the other4 ,but enough has been said4 ,peter ,vischer the younger was1 we think1 capable of producing such a work of art as the ,madonna1 and of no one else whose work we know can we say as much4 ,yet such a masterpiece is not thrown off by an unpractised hand4 ,there is good reason1 then1 for accepting the theory suggested by the remarks of ,herr von ,bezold#g and crediting our craftsman with the glory of this great work4 ,in the next chapter we shall deal with some minor1 undisputed works of his1 a careful study of which will certainly1 in our opinion1 not tend to invalidate the claim now advanced on his behalf4 ,footnote #g3 8,anzeiger des ,germanischen ,nationalmuseums40 ,no4 #b4 ,nuremberg1 #ahif4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,minor ,,works ,,of ,,peter ,,vischer ,,the ,,younger ,,some time during the year which followed the completion of the ,eissen ,monument1 ,cardinal ,albrecht von ,brandenburg1 ,archbishop of ,magdeburg and ,mainz1 it is recorded1 sent to the old bronze-founder of ,nuremberg requesting him to let his son come to him to confer about certain orders4 ,whether the young ,peter went or not we do not know1 nor is it certain whether it was his tomb which the ,cardinal had previously ordered1 or the great ,state ,seal of the ,archbishop1 which is with some probability ascribed to this craftsman1 that was in debate4 ,the tomb-plate of the ,cardinal was finished by #aebe1 and is now in the ,parish ,church of ,aschaffenburg1 though it is at ,mainz that the ,cardinal was buried4 ,for the fashion in tombs was changing1 and1 in order to be in the fashion1 the ,cardinal subsequently ordered a new tomb of red marble beneath which he now lies in the ,cathedral of ,mainz4 8,and ,i shall fill my slab of basalt there1 ,and 'neath my tabernacle take my rest1 ,with those nine columns round me1 two and two1 ,the odd one at my feet where ,anselm stands2 ,peach-blossom marble all1 the rare1 the ripe ,as fresh-poured red wine of a mighty pulse4444 ,true peach1 ,rosy and flawless40 ,so the ,german ,cardinal shared the taste of ,browning's ,roman ,bishop4 ,it was a taste that spread rapidly from ,italy about this time1 and brought in its train swift ruin to the industry of the bronze craftsmen4 ,but the day of disaster had not yet come1 and meantime the young ,peter ,vischer was busy with other works4 ,he had not yet1 however1 succeeded in being admitted as a meister of the ,guild of ,coppersmiths1 and he took the present opportunity of submitting the ,cardinal's tomb-plate as his masterpiece4 ,it was rejected for some obscure reason1 just as1 two years later1 his splendid memorial of ,frederick the ,wise was rejected4 ,both of these pieces are signed 8,opus ,m4 ,petri ,fischers4 ,norimberge40 ,in face of the fact that they were not accepted as masterpieces we cannot interpret the letter ,m4 in these inscriptions as the initial of ,magistri 7master74 ,it must stand rather for ,minoris--8the work of ,peter ,fischer the younger40 ,the present memorial takes the form of a life-size character-study of a mighty prince of the ,church1 and it is set in a ,renaissance framework4 ,it is a noble and intense piece of work which has been spoilt by the inscription tablet which covers the body4 ,unlike his father1 but like most other artists of his day1 ,peter ,vischer the younger1 as we gather from ,neudrffer's mention of him1 did not confine himself to bronze work1 but dabbled in various kindred arts4 ,we have a noticeable instance of this in the 8,allegory on the ,reformation0 7#aebd71 an aquarelle now preserved at ,weimar1 which once roused the enthusiasm of ,goethe1 and which reveals to us his political and religious creed4 ,in common with ,hans ,sachs1 ,albert ,drer1 and ,willibald ,pirkheimer1 and the great majority of ,nurembergers1 ,peter ,vischer had thrown in his lot with the ,protestant ,reformers1 and boldly espoused the cause of ,luther4 ,luther he here represents as some hero of old story who has destroyed the palace and upset the throne of the usurper1 and scattered the base crowd of his courtiers4 ,the ,pope and the mighty princes of the ,church have been put down from their seat and the horde of their hateful minions--,pride1 ,luxury1 and ,avarice--flee away4 ,in their stead ,faith1 ,hope1 and ,charity are about to enthrone ,justice1 whilst ,luther1 the humble and unworldly1 shows the straight path to ,christ1 who descends from the clouds to save publicans and sinners4 ,rome's might1 it is implied1 is broken2 the ,german people can at last1 through ,luther's act1 hold direct communion with their ,redeemer once more4 ,only a ,german ,emperor1 so it must have seemed to the ,german enthusiasts of that time1 was wanting--no ,spaniard like ,charles ,v41 with his brood of alien courtiers--to continue the work of ,luther and to fulfil the national ideal4 ,and perhaps1 as ,dr4 ,seeger suggests1 ,peter ,vischer the younger looked to ,frederick the ,wise1 ,elector of ,saxony1 as the heaven-appointed ,kaiser--that ,prince whose portrait he executed in so loving and masterly a fashion two years later4 ,that love of allegory which is indicated by this drawing1 and by the artist's addiction to poetry1 was a taste he shared with ,drer and ,holbein the younger4 ,it is further illustrated by the two inkstands which come from his hand and1 in a less degree1 by the two plaquettes of ,orpheus and ,eurydice we have now to consider4 7,ill4 #ai and #bj47 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,plaquette ,,in ,,possession ,,of ,m4 ,,dreyfus1 ,,paris #ai4 ,,orpheus ,,and ,,eurydice ,there are1 indeed1 four plaquettes on this subject in existence1 all undoubtedly by the same master4 ,but three of these are practically identical4 ,the other1 the earliest as it would appear1 is in the possession of ,m4 ,dreyfus of ,paris4 ,it was at one time attributed to ,jacopo de' ,barbari4 ,but this1 like the other plaquettes1 bears ,vischer's mark clearly enough--two fish lying back to back pierced through by a nail or dagger1 a device found also on the two inkstands4 ,the two nude figures of ,orpheus and ,eurydice do1 however1 undoubtedly owe very much to the influence of ,jacopo and ,sansovino on the one hand1 just as they are related to the ,adam and ,eve of ,drer on the other4 ,in this earlier version of the subject it is evident that the artist has been moved by the above-mentioned influences to study the nude1 but his study is not yet complete4 ,for the modelling of the ,orpheus is not all that could be desired1 the legs of this figure in particular being awkward and constrained4 ,the ,eurydice is more successful1 and is less hard and angular in treatment4 ,but1 as ,lbke observed1 the parallelism produced by the presentation of the two forms in the act of turning lends a distinct harshness to the composition4 ,for all that there is one quality present here which we have learnt to expect from this master4 ,he has seized the dramatic moment when1 in ,vergil's words1 8a sudden madness took hold of the unwary lover10 and1 8in his desire to behold her1 he turned his eyes0 upon his half-regained ,eurydice4 ,but he could not hold her safe 8within the bond of one immortal look40 ,just as she emerges from the rocks of the underworld he yields to this desire and turns4 ,and as he turns and looks she stops and begins1 under the constraint of the inexorable law of ,proserpine1 to be drawn back to the shades whence she came4 ,into her face there has come a look of sorrow and sad reproach1 whilst the movement of her hands and head and hair betoken the beginning of that inevitable return4 ,with the gesture of her left hand ,eurydice seems almost to utter the lines of ,vergil3 8,quis et me miseram et te perdidit1 ,orpheu1 ,quis tantus furor8 ,jamque vale--60 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,plaquette ,,in ,,the ,,museum1 ,,berlin #bj4 ,,orpheus ,,and ,,eurydice ,the other version of this same subject to which ,peter ,vischer the younger returned apparently in later years is still more finely conceived and finely executed4 ,the artist by this time1 about the year #aebj let us say1 had found his own soul and strength1 and dared to be more himself4 ,the ,berlin plaquette1 which passed from the ,nagler collection to the ,berlin ,museum in #ahce1 is a great improvement upon the old theme4 ,the composition is in all respects much more rhythmical and harmonious4 ,orpheus has been stepping quickly forward1 playing as only ,orpheus with his lute could play1 playing for life and love and happiness1 when suddenly the irresistible fear has come upon him that she1 his half-regained ,eurydice1 may not be following him4 ,he has1 under the spur of that doubt1 flung round his head quickly to reassure himself4 ,and she1 even in that instant1 begins to turn again towards those shadowy regions whence his music and his faith1 so far maintained1 had drawn her4 ,reproachful1 sorrowing1 in the agony of her love and her despair1 she gazes at him with one long last look4 ,here the artist has turned the back-fluttering veil to a new and beautiful motive1 and1 like the arrangement of the hair and the treatment of the feet1 it has been fittingly and carefully thought out to illustrate the two movements in which the tragedy of the moment lies4 ,the style is essentially ,italianate1 and the device of the two spiked fish in the corner of the plaquette proclaim the authorship of it4 ,orpheus1 it will be noticed1 is not provided with the lute of antiquity but with a violin4 ,this is not surprising1 for there was a general tendency both in ,italian and ,german art to furnish mythical personages with modern musical instruments4 ,lbke reminds us1 for instance1 of the ,apollo in ,raphael's 8,parnassus40 ,of the other two plaquettes to which we have referred1 one is to be found in the ,hamburg ,museum1 and the other was1 till #ahjg1 in ,st4 ,blasien in the ,black ,forest1 but is now preserved in the institution of ,st4 ,paul in ,carinthia4 ,they are almost exactly the same with the ,berlin copy4 ,but the latter has a poetical inscription above on the upper edge which is absent from the example at ,st4 ,paul4 ,the inscription1 which a recollection of the fondness evinced by the young ,peter for the study of poetry inclines us to attribute to his pen1 runs as follows3 ,,orphea ,,cvm ,,silvis ,,flvvios ,,etsaxa,,tn#a ,,movent ,,grecia ,,laeteos ,,fert ,,adysse ,,lavis ,,evrydicn ,,illic ,,vitae ,,revocasse ,,priori ,,servasset ,,stigio ,,si ,,modo ,,pacta ,,iovi2 which1 being roughly interpreted1 is to the effect that ,orpheus1 moving1 according to the ,grecian fable1 rocks and woods and rivers by his music1 came to the ,infernal ,regions1 and there had quite won back ,eurydice to life if only he had observed the conditions of the king of ,hades4 ,the ,hamburg exemplar has this inscription also1 with a few literal variations1 as1 for instance1 the mistake of saxo instead of saxa1 and the correction of adiisse 7which is necessary for the scansion of the line7 in place of adysse4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,inkstand1 ,,ashmolean ,,museum1 ,,fortnum ,,collection1 ,,oxford #ba4 8,,earthly ,,life0 ,a restless1 uncontented care of doing better1 which is the hall-mark of genius1 is proclaimed in the spirit of the craftsman who thus turned again in his maturity to improve1 and1 if he could1 to perfect the theme he had attempted in his youth4 ,the same spirit is evident in the similar development of a theme which we find in the case of two bronze inkstands formerly in the possession of the late ,h4 ,fortnum1 ,esq41 of ,stanmore1 and now forming part of the ,fortnum ,collection1 bequeathed by him to the ,ashmolean ,museum at ,oxford4 ,the first was picked up by the collector in ,paris2 the second in ,genoa4 7,ill4 #ba and #bb47 ,they are mentioned by ,christoph von ,murr#h in #aggh as being in the collection of ,dr4 ,silberrad at ,nuremberg1 and are called by him 8two admirable bas-reliefs in bronze by ,peter ,vischer40 ,he further describes the second1 that is1 the later1 in the following terms3 8,it represents the reminding of the future life4 ,near an urn1 which might serve as an inkpot1 stands a naked female figure1 about six inches high1 pointing towards heaven with her finger4 ,in front of her a skull is lying1 behind her a small shield and dagger4 ,a beautiful idea4 ,leaning against the urn is a tablet with the inscription #8,,vitam ,,non ,,mortem ,,recogita'0 7,think on life not death74 8,under the base is the sign of the master1 two fish with the initials ,p4,v4 #aebe4444 ,both pieces are still just as they came from the foundry1 and one must admire the accuracy and draughtsmanship which betray the hand of one who is a master of his craft40 ,footnote #h3 8,beschreibung der vornehmsten ,merkwrdigkeiten10 quoted by ,seeger4 ,now if this female figure above mentioned is rightly interpreted as reminding us of the life to come1 the heavenly life1 we may regard it as a later and natural variation of the allegory of earthly life represented by the other and earlier work4 ,there the female figure of ,life is standing with her foot upon a skull1 trampling on the emblem of ,death1 and is pointing to herself1 gazing self-centred1 as who should say1 8,enjoy life1 think on me and forget the death that cometh with the morrow40 ,and on the tablet at her feet recurs the legend1 8,,vitam ,,non ,,mortem ,,recogita60 ,she is teaching the ,renaissance love of beauty and the lesson of the joy of existence and the frank delight in the things of this earth4 ,probably1 then1 this work was executed shortly after the young craftsman's sojourn in ,italy1 when he was filled with the joy of life and had been studying the nude with all the enthusiasm of the early ,renaissance school4 ,a mixture of early ,renaissance and of medival elements is indeed distinctly observable4 ,for the four-cornered vase and its lid is eminently ,gothic in character4 ,on the four under sides of the vase we find repeated the sign of the two fish which we have learnt to associate with ,peter ,vischer the younger1 and on the four upper sides the same medallion of a man's head4 ,medallions1 we know1 ,peter ,vischer the younger turned his hand to frequently after his return from ,italy4 ,the ,medusa head with the winged helmet1 and the club on the base1 recall the style of ,sansovino1 whilst the lion's feet on which the vase rests1 and much of the decoration1 correspond with details on the ,sebaldusgrab4 ,the pose and the rhythmic movement of the female form are beautiful in themselves1 but the neck of the figure is too thick and the body excessively short4 ,when1 ten or fifteen years later 7#aebe71 the craftsman with a deepened sense of the mystery and sorrow of the world returned to this theme1 he read a new meaning into that favourite motto of his1 8,think on life not death10 and he also remedied in great part the faults of his earlier effort4 ,the figure1 indeed1 remains still too short in comparison with its breadth1 but it is far slimmer than the other2 the work is much more delicate1 the lines less accentuated4 ,the artist is now a wiser1 sadder1 more spiritual man4 ,with his feeling and his knowledge of the world1 his power also and his freedom have increased and his mastery of modelling4 ,the influence of his brother's journey to ,rome and of the lessons he had brought home with him1 is evident everywhere1 and not least in the striving after simplicity which has induced him to leave the base plain and not richly ornamented as was the former one4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,inkstand1 ,,ashmolean ,,museum1 ,,fortnum ,,collection1 ,,oxford #bb4 8,,heavenly ,,life0 ,the theme itself can indeed hardly be called a development but rather the counterpart of the other4 ,it is the answer of the spiritual side of man to the earthly promptings of his nature4 ,think not on this life nor on this death--but on the other life4 ,in obedience to this point of view the skull has been placed in a more prominent position4 ,it is no longer trampled on in the ecstasy of earthly enjoyment but recognized rather1 and triumphed over1 by this upward-gazing ,vita1 upward pointing4 ,death1 it is meant1 should be used1 and welcomed almost1 as the gate of heavenly life4 ,the many deaths that had darkened the doors of his own house had1 it is probable1 sobered and saddened ,peter ,vischer's great son1 and perhaps his own failing health or some premonition of an early death1 was by this time leading him to reflect in a chastened yet hopeful spirit on the motto that he loved1 and to interpret it afresh in this allegorical wise3 8,vitam non ,mortem ,recogita40 ,it was the motto inscribed upon his grave in ,st4 ,rochus ,church when he died but three years later1 and was laid to rest by his aged father4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,tomb ,,of ,,elector ,,frederick ,,the ,,wise1 ,,and ,,the ,,rathaus ,,railing ,,but the work of ,peter ,vischer the younger was not yet done4 ,it remained1 indeed1 for him to perform some of his greatest achievements4 ,certain documents quoted by ,baader#i show that it was he who1 in the beginning of the year #aebg1 completed the monument to the ,elector ,frederick the ,wise at ,wittenberg1 of which ,lbke writes that it is 8a classic work and through it the ,german art of that period is worthy to take rank with the ,italian40 ,the life-size figure of the great ,elector stands in strong relief upon a bronze plate within a frame of ,corinthian pillars1 outside which1 on either side1 the sixteen coats of arms of the ancestors of the ,prince's house are recorded1 whilst his own arms form the central point of the arch above his head4 ,above the latter coat-of-arms two sturdy angels1 forming a central headpiece1 hold a laurel wreath1 and therewith the ,elector's favourite text inscribed in ,latin3 8,the word of the ,lord endureth for ever40 ,the base on which the feet rest is richly decorated with forms of sea monsters and sporting children in the craftsman's most joyous and luxuriant manner4 ,frederick himself is draped boldly in the broad sweep of the ,electoral cloak1 and in a cape of rich ermine4 ,of ermine1 too1 is the ,elector's hat1 which rests upon a noble brow4 ,but even beneath those heavy robes the vigour and spring of the man's energetic form make themselves felt1 nor can the gloved hands disguise the strength of his grasp upon the ,sword of the ,realm1 which he holds aslant his shoulder4 ,and the face is full of life and fire1 quick with the keen gaze of a leader of men1 and eloquently expressive of determination and strenuous endeavour4 ,this is1 without doubt1 a noble portrait of princely faith and manly strength4 8,one can imagine10 says ,lbke1 8no more beautiful picture of strength1 nobility and immovable ,christian trust in ,god40 ,what then must have been the feelings of the craftsman when the ,guild of ,coppersmiths refused to recognize it as a 8,masterpiece10 as they had already refused to accept his tomb-plate of ,elector ,albrecht von ,mainz6 ,footnote #i3 8,beitrge zur ,kunstgeschichte ,nrnbergs40 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,schlosskirche1 ,,wittenberg #bc4 ,,elector ,,frederick ,,the ,,wise ,assuredly it was not the ,meistersingers of ,nuremberg alone who failed to appreciate a real masterpiece when they saw one4 ,for it is on record that this noble effigy was rejected by the ,incorporated ,guild of ,masters of ,rotschmiedhandwerk1 when it was submitted to them by ,peter ,vischer the younger as the piece of work by which1 for the second time1 he claimed the rank of master among them4 ,we do not know on what pettifogging grounds1 whether of inaccuracy of detail or of personal spite1 admission was refused him4 7,ill4 #bc47 ,but it is clear that a considerable scandal was created by their refusal4 ,for it is further on record that the ,council1 moved perhaps by the influence of his father and his friends1 took the step of interfering on behalf of the artist's reputation4 ,an appeal had been made from the decision of the ,guild1 and the 8,members of the ,council10 we learn from ,baader1 8to whom it was shown gave it their approval1 and on ,may #bb 7#aebg87 they commanded the ,masters of the ,guild of ,coppersmiths to accept this monument as a masterpiece1 and to recognize the author of it as a ,master40 ,this1 they explained out of deference to the feelings of the ,masters1 was to be an exceptional case1 and was not to be held to the prejudice of the ,guild and its rules4 ,the sworn ,masters1 however1 protested against such a proceeding1 and they did not obey the order of the ,council4 ,the matter rested there for some time1 but a few years after the death of the artist1 in the interests1 perhaps1 of his posthumous renown1 the ,council repeated their command 7,may #bb1 #aecb71 and added a rider to the effect that ,peter ,vischer was qualified as a ,master by the monument he had made even if he had not always executed his masterpieces in strict accordance with the prescribed rules4 ,as to the artist himself1 he was apparently disgusted by this second failure1 and he gave up trying to become a ,master in this ,guild on the merits of his work4 ,for we read that 8,peter ,vischer's son of the same name was received as ,master of the ,guild of ,thimble-,makers in the year #aebg4 ,this ,guild and that of the ,coppersmiths were at that period still united1 though later they separated40 ,but whether the monument won the young ,peter ,vischer the ,mastership or not1 it is undoubtedly a masterpiece of ,german ,renaissance4 ,it is by document and signature his as it is his in design and execution4 ,there are1 indeed1 still a few traces of the earlier influences of his house visible4 ,the background1 for instance1 is decorated in the ,gothic style1 and the fantastic figures in the two corners formed by the arch remind us of those on the tomb-plate of the ,duchess ,helene von ,mecklenburg1 for whose father4 ,elector ,philip of the ,palatinate1 his father had worked in ,heidelberg thirty-three years before4 ,but in spite of the beauty of the rich details of the elaborate architecture1 arms and pilasters1 that form the setting of this work1 it is the central commanding figure of the whole which rightly rivets our attention4 ,in this strong and thoughtful man of action and man of mind1 who is a ,christian and a fighter1 a warrior1 but none the less a theologian1 whose watchword recorded on the monument was 7in spite of all the ,popes and princes of ,europe71 8,the word of the ,lord endureth for ever10 ,peter ,vischer has proclaimed1 so it has been suggested1 the ideal ,kaiser for whom ,germany was looking in vain1 the perfect ,emperor of the ,reformation movement4 ,the power of portraiture which his practice as a maker of medallions had developed1 has enabled him to lend to the bronze a wonderful force of expression1 so that he may even challenge a comparison with ,drer1 who1 thirty years previously1 had portrayed the protector of ,luther4 ,the design of this monument was borrowed by ,hans ,vischer1 who copied it in #aecd to serve as a memorial of ,prince ,john the ,stable1 producing1 however1 but a feeble version of the original4 ,it may be supposed that the relations between ,peter ,vischer the younger and the ,guild of ,coppersmiths were somewhat strained by their treatment of him4 ,for this reason1 perhaps1 and also for the reason that the new ,italian fashion of tombstones1 had1 by this time1 injuriously affected the demand for bronze work1 he seems to have thought seriously of leaving ,nuremberg in the year following the completion of the ,wittenberg monument4 ,the quarrel with the ,house of ,fugger1 which we shall presently relate1 may likewise have conduced to make him entertain the proposal which came to him now from the agent of ,duke ,albrecht of ,prussia1 or it may be that he approached the agent on his own initiative4 ,that prince was1 for reasons of his own with which we have no concern1 anxious to secure the services of a cannon-founder4 ,it was suggested that the young ,peter ,vischer should go to ,prussia to act in this capacity4 ,but he was not destined to do so4 ,the ,duke's agent reports unfavourably4 8,he is too delicate a craftsman10 he says1 8and has no experience in casting large pieces40 ,it would have made little difference1 in fact1 if he had gone1 for he died in this same year--the year in which ,nuremberg lost also her prince of draughtsmen--,albert ,drer4 ,the documents which refer to this matter of the ,duke ,albrecht are to be found in the ,state ,archives at ,knigsberg1 and were first quoted by ,dbner1#aj who writes as follows3 8,duke ,albrecht of ,prussia had corresponded in ,january1 #aebh1 with a citizen of ,nuremberg named ,bastian ,startz1 who was to procure a cannon-founder for him from that city40 ,startz wrote to him from there on ,may #cj1 #aebh1 in very illiterate ,german1 to the effect that 8,jorg ,clingenbeck has had dealings with one who professes to be a ,puxsengeisser4 ,clingenbeck and ,i could not subsequently discover that he had ever in his life cast any large pieces1 but only monuments and statuettes1 and on that account your ,highness is hereby advised that he is too delicate a craftsman4 ,and this ,puxsenmeister is called by the name of ,petter ,vischer40 ,footnote #aj3 8,peter-,vischer-,studien40 ,a4 ,w4 ,dbner4 ,as early as ,march #h1 in the same year1 8,pawl ,viescher1 son of ,peter ,vischer1 the copper worker at ,nuremberg10 had received the following letter from ,knigsberg3 8,we have received your letter in which you say that we have it in mind to have several cannons cast1 and that we shall require a ,master for that purpose1 and further that you are inclined to visit this country and to see what is to be seen1 and also that for the time being work with your father is slack1 and so forth4 ,these and other matters in your letter have been communicated to us4 ,and on these points we give you to understand that we do have it in view to cast several cannon1 and1 seeing that we have heard favourable mention made of your father's work1 we think it likely that you have learnt much from this same father of yours1 and we are therefore disposed to allow you to come here1 and we will then inspect your work and speak with you and have you bargained with4 ,this is the answer which we are graciously pleased to make to your letter1 and we consent to express to you our gracious favour4 ,given at ,knigsberg4 7,konigsperkuts470 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,formerly ,,at ,n,,rnberg #bd4 ,,the ,,rathaus ,,railing ,whether ,paul did avail himself of this princely permission to go to ,prussia and be bargained with we do not know4 ,if he did1 he did not stay there more than a year4 ,for he was back in ,nuremberg in ,september1 #aebi1 and in the following ,august he had sold the foundry which he had inherited to his brother ,hans1 and was already settled at ,mainz4 ,there he acquired the rights of a citizen1 and died in ,december1 #aeca4 ,meantime the ,vischers1 father and sons1 were busy1 and had at intervals long been busy1 with the last supreme work of their foundry1 the ,rathaus ,railing4 ,the story of the chequered career of this beautiful work takes us back some years in the history of the ,house4 ,at the same time as ,maximilian commissioned ,peter ,vischer to execute two bronze figures for his tomb1 the great family of ,fugger ordered a railing to be made to shut off their family chapel1 in ,st4 ,anne's ,church at ,augsburg4 ,the design for this railing was completed by the old ,peter ,vischer4 ,it was submitted to and received the approval of the patron4 ,this was during the absence of ,hermann ,vischer in his journey to ,rome in #aead-ae4 ,but when he returned full of new ideas and laden with sketches of the beautiful things he had seen1 his enthusiasm for the new style of the antique quickly imparted itself to his father and brothers4 ,always eager to learn and ready to appreciate the best1 father and brothers alike studied the sketches of ,hermann1 and thus1 after his early death1 his influence asserted itself more strongly than ever before4 ,the result was that the design for the railing no longer satisfied its author4 ,it was overhauled1 and soon revised and improved in many details suggested by the new-found inspiration of the later renaissance4 7,ill4 #bd and #be47 ,the alterations thus introduced by the ,vischer family can only have been improvements2 improvements introduced by these craftsmen because anything below their best was intolerable to their artistic conscience4 ,but it does not pay to be an artist when you work on commission4 ,so ,drer also had found4 ,and the ,vischers in their turn suffered from their enthusiasm4 ,the ,fuggers1 who had given the commission and had expressed their approval of the original design1 died4 ,their heirs1 noticing a difference between the approved sketch and the finished product1 suspected a fraud1 or1 perhaps1 seized the opportunity of avoiding the expense of this piece of ancestral extravagance4 ,they therefore brought an action for breach of contract against the house of ,vischer4 ,after several weary years of litigation--for the law's delays stretched from #aebb to #aebi--;a decision was given4 ,the ,fuggers were released from the responsibility of their ancestors' commission1 and the railing was thrown upon the hands of the heirs of ,peter ,vischer4 ,for the verdict was not awarded till eight months after the old man's death1 which occurred on the #gth of ,january1 #aebi1 when he was buried in the same grave as his two sons and three wives who had died before him4 ,his heirs1 then1 the sons who survived him1 were left to dispose of the railing as best they could1 but they were not called upon to restore the money which had already been paid on account1 and which amounted to some fourteen hundred odd gulden4 ,they turned therefore to the ,nuremberg ,council and offered the railing to them to adorn the ,rathaus4 ,on ,july #ae1 #aecj1 the ,council bought it as it was1 paying six gulden per hundredweight for it4 ,the railing1 still incomplete1 was allowed to lie neglected in the cellars of the ,rathaus for some years4 ,but at last it was finished and erected4 ,for when the ,council heard on good authority that ,count ,otto ,heinrich of the ,palatinate was anxious to secure it in order to adorn his castle at ,neuburg therewith1 they were afraid lest if they did not put it to some immediate use they might be forced into the position of having no excuse for not making a present of it to that powerful nobleman4 ,they therefore hastily commissioned ,hans ,vischer1 8the ,bronze-founder10 to complete the work--for a quarter of it still remained uncast--and to set it up in the ,rathaus4 ,this1 accordingly1 he did1 and erected it on the #aith of ,april1 #aedj1 twenty-seven years after the ,fugger family had first ordered it for their chapel4 ,it was used for the purpose of dividing the western portion of the great ,hall1 where the ,court of ,justice held its sessions1 from the rest of the room4 ,the total cost of the work amounted to #b1gif gulden4 ,but so admirable did the ,council find it that they actually made a present of one hundred and fifty gulden to the craftsman in addition to the price named1 as a token of their pleasure and satisfaction4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,formerly ,,at ,n,,rnberg #be4 ,,the ,,rathaus ,,railing ,unfortunately1 the history of the misadventures of this railing is not yet finished4 ,it was removed in #ahjf by the ,bavarian ,government1 and1 just for the mere value of the metal contained in it1 sold to a merchant in ,frth4 ,from him it passed again into the possession of a ,nuremberger1 and some years later found its way to the ,south of ,france4 ,there all trace of this beautiful work of art has disappeared1 and one is forced to the reluctant conclusion that it was melted down by the purchaser for the sake of the bronze of which it was composed4 ,our knowledge of it at the present day is owing to a careful set of drawings which were made of it in #ahjf1 and which have been reproduced excellently and in full detail by ,dr4 ,lbke in the work to which we have so often referred4 ,the ,railing was of bronze throughout1 wrought with equal care and finish on both sides1 and composed of one hundred and fifty-eight separate pieces4 ,in length it measured nearly forty feet1 and stood sixteen feet high1 rising at the highest point to twenty-five feet4 ,the drawings which have come down to us show that the fertility of the artist's invention did not interfere with his harmonious conception of the whole4 ,for though there is a truly wonderful wealth of decorative detail1 all in the style of the full ,renaissance1 it is admirably arranged and subdued to its proper proportion4 ,eight ,corinthian pillars1 with richly ornamented capitals1 carried 7,i base this description on ,lbke's work7 a superstructure which terminated throughout in an entablature1 frieze and dog-tooth cornice4 ,of the seven bays comprehended by these columns1 three1 alternating with the grilles1 formed the means of access to the other parts of the hall4 ,the principal entrance1 in the centre1 was ten feet high and was finished with a semi-circular arch formed by a moulded architrave4 ,the spandrels of this arch were decorated with figures in relief1 and these figures were supported on caps which surmounted decorative panels forming columns without bases4 ,the two smaller and lower gates on either side had square heads with crowning pediments4 ,all three entrances were still more distinctly set off in the composition of the whole1 the centre one by means of a rectangular superstructure in the form of an dicule with a crowning pediment1 the two side ones by a segmental pediment directly over the cornice1 the upper members of which were the details of the pediment4 ,the erection over the central gate1 one may remark1 is a blot in the composition3 there is nothing to carry the eye up to this abrupt1 unsupported rectangle1 and it does not harmonize with the beautiful segmental pediments over the other two entrances4 ,such was the simple framework1 which1 says ,lbke1 thanks to the perfection of its arrangement and the beauty of its proportions1 proved so admirably effective4 ,but the ,master contributed also to the decoration of every part of it all the wealth of his luxuriant imagination4 ,and he made use of the patterns of the full ,renaissance1 such as were to be met with in ,italy about the beginning of the sixteenth century1 in the works of ,andrea ,sansovino4 ,the columns1 with their varied capitals in the ,corinthian manner1 exhibited a beautiful diversity of invention4 ,every surface1 too1 was most richly decorated2 every member daintily wrought2 the pilasters1 shafts of the columns1 pedestals1 borders and doorways1 were embellished with exquisitely drawn foliage-work mingled with masks and fantastic beasts in ever fresh variations4 ,especial mention must be made of the magnificent frieze of acanthus with figures of savage men interlaced in different moments of combat4 ,other friezes showed garlands1 wreaths1 and festoons of fruit hanging from the horns of oxen1 and1 between them1 winged angels' heads and cornucopias overflowing with fruit and flowers4 ,the great bays or compartments arranged between the entrances were filled with open metal-work1 the bars whereof at the points of intersection were embellished with ornaments of manifold devices4 ,a marvellous wealth of figures in relief was to be found in every quarter--over the arch of the doorway2 on the spandrels of the side gates as well as on both the crowning segmental pediments and the rectangular centre-piece4 ,even the angles of the cornice were adorned with fantastic beings in whose manifold forms the humour of the ,master1 known to us already from our study of the ,sebaldusgrab1 was revealed in full play4 ,everywhere1 and on either side of the railing1 the same wealth of fancy and freshness of invention is displayed in these ever varying1 never repeated forms4 ,in the spandrels of the arch of the central door were1 on the outside1 struggling heroes1 on the inside1 figures of ,victory4 ,on the two pediments of the side gates were the four ,cardinal ,virtues1 surrounded by beasts and creations of the fancy4 ,the curved pediments above them exhibited the battles of fantastic creatures of the sea1 tritons and nereids1 and between them1 within and without1 the ,arms of ,nuremberg4 ,the great frieze showed us sporting children making music1 and heroic scenes of the battle of the ,centaurs distinguished by a bold handling of movement and a masterly freedom of form4 ,finally1 in the pediment of the centre-piece1 crowning the whole1 the ,saviour was portrayed in the act of benediction1 holding the globe of the earth and surrounded by angel children4 ,the whole of this work1 so far as we can judge from the drawings1 adds ,lbke1 is full of the highest beauty and life1 and of such richness in design and execution1 that one is forced to reckon this noble creation as the third great masterpiece of ,vischer1 after the monument at ,magdeburg and the tomb of ,st4 ,sebald at ,nuremberg4 ,in the general design1 as well as in the details of the ornament1 the complete triumph of the worship of the antique is evident4 ,only the figures of the ,saviour and of the ,cardinal ,virtues are borrowed from the ideas of ,christian art4 ,the rest is sheer paganism4 8,without question ,vischer's ,rathaus ,railing takes the first place among the masterpieces of the distinct and complete ,renaissance in ,germany40 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,fall ,,of ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,vischer ,,the ,rathaus ,railing was the last and greatest of the works produced by the combined efforts of the ,vischer family4 ,it is vain to attempt to apportion the share of father and sons in it4 ,that each had his share in it we may easily deduce from the history of it given above1 and the result was a very perfect whole1 the most complete and beautiful achievement of ,german craftsmen labouring under the overwhelming influence of neo-paganism in art4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,museum1 ,n,,rnberg #bf4 ,,boy ,,with ,,bagpipes ,it would be tedious and unprofitable to enumerate here the manifold works1 great and small1 which have been in times past attributed to the old ,master by uncritical generations of credulous collectors4 ,almost every piece of sixteenth or seventeenth century bronze work in ,germany has been at one time or another called a masterpiece by ,peter ,vischer4 ,but one characteristic piece undoubtedly by him is the 8,boy with ,bagpipes0 7,knabe mit ,dudelsack71 now in the ,germanic ,museum at ,nuremberg4 7,,iii4 #bf47 ,it is a charming little work1 completely in the manner of the ,nuremberg school and of the ,master of the ,st4 ,maurice preserved in the ,krafft ,house in the same town4 ,drer1 it will be remembered1 dealt once in a popular little engraving with the same subject of a bagpiper1 treating it1 however1 in a very different manner4 ,when ,peter ,vischer died in #aebi he left the ,foundry he had established at ,nuremberg to his son ,paul4 ,paul1 as we have seen1 had already shown signs of being anxious to leave his native town and to seek his fortune elsewhere4 ,the trade of the bronze-workers in ,nuremberg was no longer a flourishing industry4 ,on succeeding to the foundry1 therefore1 ,paul quickly seized his opportunity4 ,he sold his inheritance to his brother ,hans in the same year and left ,nuremberg4 ,he went to live in ,mainz1 and acquired there the rights of a burgher4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,cathedral1 ,,schwerin #bg4 ,,tomb-,,plate ,,of ,,duchess ,,helene ,,von ,,mecklenburg ,hans remained to carry on his father's business1 and to complete a few of his father's inchoate commissions4 ,he is known henceforth as ,hans der ,giesser--,hans the ,founder4 ,he continued to use the trade mark of the ,house1 and on more than one occasion signed in his father's name as the lawful successor to the business4 ,there is1 for instance1 a letter extant which is nominally written by ,peter ,vischer1 but in reality by ,hans in the deceased craftsman's name1 for it is dated ,january #beth1 #aebi1 whereas ,peter ,vischer died on the sixth of that month4 ,in that letter ,hans begs the ,duke ,heinrich von ,mecklenburg to send for a monument which had already been lying a whole year in the foundry1 and for which payment is demanded4 ,this reference fixes the date of the purely heraldic tomb-plate which commemorates the ,duchess ,helene von ,mecklenburg4 7,ill4 #bg47 ,an example of ,hans' use of the ,vischer mark is to be found in the tomb of ,bishop ,sigismund of ,lindenau1 in the ,cathedral at ,merseburg1 whilst a tablet with a high relief of a ,madonna in the ,parish ,church at ,aschaffenburg bears an inscription to the effect that ,johannes ,vischer of ,nuremberg made it in #aecj4 ,the former of these two monuments consists of a lifeless prelate kneeling before a weak and effeminate figure on the cross4 ,it dates from the year #aedd1 and is a work of no importance except as an example of the extremely rapid deterioration exhibited by ,german art after the days of ,drer and the great ,vischers4 ,hans was not an original artist of any talent1 but merely a painstaking craftsman4 ,where he had the taste and designs of his father and brother to guide him he turned out some admirable work1 as for example the second of the above-named monuments4 ,this tablet forms a pendant to the memorial of ,cardinal ,albrecht von ,brandenburg4 ,the ,christ-,child holds an apple in one hand and stretches out the other with a life-like gesture1 looking the while at the ,mother who carries him on her left arm4 ,the ,madonna's head is oval in shape1 not of the square ,german type1 and her eyes are admirably full of expression4 ,the drapery is both simple and boldly handled4 ,but every beauty in this beautiful work1 from the central figure down to the small angels who are playing musical instruments in the corners1 and who take their part in the crowning of ,mary1 is the direct outcome of imitation--imitation of ,peter ,vischer and the ,italian masters he had copied and loved4 ,another piece which was certainly cast by ,hans ,vischer but for which he was not1 in all probability1 altogether responsible1 is the tomb-plate of ,bishop ,lorenz of ,bibra1 in the ,cathedral at ,wrzburg1 for the ,bishop died as early as the year #aeai4 ,the hand of ,vischer's father1 therefore1 may well be assumed to be traceable in this design4 ,ten years after the ,bishop's death we find ,hans1 through the medium of the ,nuremberg ,council1 presenting a petition to the ,bishop of ,bamberg1 in which the executor of my ,lord of ,bibra is humbly requested to pay the twenty-two gulden still owing to the craftsman4 ,the tomb of the ,elector ,johann ,cicero of ,brandenburg1 which is in the ,cathedral at ,berlin1 is also signed by ,hans ,vischer1 and it is dated #aecj4 7,johannes ,vischer ,noric4 ,facieb4 #aecj47 ,this tomb was a long time in the making1 and in the original conception of it ,peter ,vischer the father was concerned4 ,this we may gather from a letter to ,prince ,joachim ,i41 wherein he acknowledges the receipt of two hundred gulden on account of the tomb which the said prince had discussed with him in his workshop1 and for which1 ,peter reminds his ,highness1 he had made two designs on paper4 ,he now requests the ,prince to return to him one of those designs in order that he may be able to complete the work to the best advantage4 ,the rough sketch for this tomb or part of it is all that we should care to attribute to ,peter ,vischer in this matter4 ,he must have entrusted the execution of the commission to one of his less gifted sons1 who was following without being able completely to master the developments which were taking place in the style of the ,house4 ,the tomb1 by whatever hand1 has clearly been executed at two different periods and in two distinct parts4 ,in style the original portion1 which is the lower1 is stiff and conventional1 and the architectural framework is chiefly ,gothic1 with here and there1 as in the case of the medallion-heads1 a touch of the ,renaissance4 ,the later portion is the upper1 and it reflects the change which had in the meantime come over the artistic aims of the ,house of ,vischer2 but it reflects them in a feeble and uncertain manner4 ,the mantle of the ,renaissance appears to sit uneasily on shoulders cast in the ,gothic mould1 and to betray the workman who has never got rid of the hardness and stiffness of his early days4 ,but he obeys none the less the influence of the artists in the house1 and after his father's death signs the monument ,johann ,vischer4 ,a much more successful instance of ,hans ,vischer's work in the ,renaissance style would be the canopy over the tomb of ,st4 ,margaret in the ,parish ,church of ,aschaffenburg4 ,the authorship of this canopy must not1 indeed1 be attributed to that craftsman without reserve2 but1 if it did come from the ,nuremberg foundry at all1 to ,hans should be given the credit of it4 ,for it belongs to the year #aecf4 ,illustration3 ,,stein ,,photo4 ,,rathaus ,,court1 ,n,,rnberg #bh4 ,,the ,,apollo ,,fountain ,a less doubtful example of his painstaking craftsmanship is to be found in the ,apollo1 of which an illustration is given here4 7,ill4 #bh47 ,it stands now in the ,court of the ,rathaus at ,nuremberg1 and serves as a fountain-piece4 ,hans has based the construction of his bronze upon an engraving by ,jacopo de' ,barbari4 ,but he has not hesitated to introduce several alterations from the original designs4 ,vischer's ,apollo has the right hand1 which is about to let the arrow fly from the string1 more energetically drawn back1 and the elbow-joint is set further back4 ,in ,barbari's drawing ,apollo is represented as stretching the bow and looking down1 although he is pointing the arrow upwards4 ,it was a distinct improvement when ,hans made the ,far-darter's gaze to follow the direction of the arrow's flight4 ,amongst other minor alterations he has represented the ,god1 probably out of consideration for the material in which he was working1 with short hair in place of the locks streaming in the wind found in ,barbari's design4 ,the obvious fault of the piece--a fault which proves entirely ruinous to its success as a work of art--is that upon the slim1 attenuated ,italian figure1 excessively coarse and heavy hands and feet have been grafted4 ,and the arms are grossly exaggerated in length4 ,the playing children and sporting dolphins on the base of the fountain are but crude adaptations of the stock-in-trade with which the labours of ,peter and ,hermann had supplied the paternal foundry4 ,the tale of the works of ,hans ,vischer is told1 and so far as we can judge there is no reason to claim for him a higher position than that of a craftsman who conscientiously transmitted into bronze the designs and inspirations of others4 ,the fall of the ,house of ,vischer was1 in fact1 very close at hand4 ,it may be dated in its final realization soon after the year #aedi1 for it was then that ,hans ,vischer determined to leave his native town and to settle in ,eichstdt4 ,and this is the last we hear of him in the ,nuremberg records4 ,the ,council of ,nuremberg1 we are told1 did indeed endeavour1 through the mediation of the ,guild of ,coppersmiths1 to induce1 if not to compel1 him to remain at home4 ,but he persisted in his determination to depart4 ,he was ready even to pay the price of binding himself not to practise his craft abroad4 ,he was to accept no commission for a bronze-work1 such were the terms laid down1 without the knowledge and the consent of the ,council1 and if he then succeeded in obtaining their sanction to undertake it1 he was to execute the whole of the casting1 from beginning to end1 at ,nuremberg4 ,his readiness to comply with these conditions would seem to indicate that neither at home nor abroad did he any longer have hopes of success in his craft4 ,the bronze industry1 apparently1 had gone from bad to worse3 the fashion for bronze tombs and memorials had passed1 and commissions no longer poured in upon the ,vischer ,foundry as they had done in the palmy days of ,maximilian4 ,germany was already in the bitter throes of that ,catholic reaction from which she was only destined to emerge after the terrible ordeal of the ,thirty ,years' ,war4 ,nuremberg herself was engaged in a bitter and exhausting struggle with her hereditary enemies the ,margraves of ,brandenburg4 ,wars must needs come1 but artists are the first to suffer from them4 ,for peace and prosperity are necessary to provide citizens with the means of enjoying that luxury which is art4 ,and art is the first luxury which men under the pressure of taxation are willing to deny themselves4 ,it was then1 probably1 for these reasons1 and perhaps from other considerations of which we know nothing1 that ,hans ,vischer decided to leave the 8quaint old town of toil and traffic1 quaint old town of art and song0 which was his birth-place4 ,he accepted the terms which were imposed upon him by the ,council1 and on which he obtained leave of absence to live at ,eichstdt and at other places1 if he chose1 for five years4 ,at the expiration of that term1 however1 it was stipulated that he should return and dwell at his old home in ,nuremberg4 ,whether he did so return we are not informed4 ,for with his departure in #aedi he disappears for ever from our ken4 ,thus the members of the ,vischer family were scattered1 and their works1 under the stress of the wars and misery which came upon the land1 were forgotten or confused1 and the name and fame of their house sank once more into that obscurity whence ,hermann ,vischer had begun to raise it just a century before4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,the ,,works ,,of ,,the ,,vischers ,,the position of the ,vischers in the hierarchy of the artists not very difficult to appreciate1 and it has perhaps been sufficiently indicated in the course of our enumeration of their works4 ,they--for in forming an estimate of their work1 we need not1 nor cannot1 separate father and sons--were great craftsmen1 interpreting the teachings of other and greater artists of other lands1 but yet assuredly not without an individuality and original power of their own4 ,the view once advanced by ,heideloff cannot be for a moment entertained1 the view1 that is1 that they were mere workers in bronze who reproduced in that material the ideas and drawings of others4 ,the evidence of our eyes1 which enable us to trace the development of their style1 would be enough to refute that opinion1 even if we were without the documentary evidence which shows that father and sons alike were patient and painstaking draughtsmen as well as craftsmen all their lives4 ,in the history of ,german art1 then1 their work represents1 as we have remarked above1 the transition from ,gothic to the ,renaissance style4 ,it is eloquent to us of the passing from the conventions and the extravagances of late ,gothic to a complete acceptance and delight in neo-paganism4 ,and it was natural that1 in the spirit of intense enthusiasm for ,italian art which was upon them1 these ,german craftsmen should reproduce what they had learnt from a ,jacopo de' ,barbari1 a ,sansovino or a ,donatello4 ,they did1 indeed1 plagiarize when they wished with a splendid readiness and a fervour unashamed4 ,they copied in a spirit of sincerest flattery an angel making music1 or a symbol of an ,evangelist from ,donatello2 an ,apostle or a dolphin from an ,italian building2 a pose1 a hand or the fold of a mantle from ,leonardo da ,vinci4 ,the list could be expanded4 ,but it would not prove that the ,vischers were mere servile copyists4 ,they could do more than imitate4 ,they could apply the lessons they had learnt from their careful study of the ,italian ,masters1 and apply them with successful originality4 ,it is in the energy which lives in the ,king ,arthur1 in the simple yet vigorous composition and execution of bas-reliefs1 such as the ,healing of the blind man on ,st4 ,sebald's tomb1 or the ,tucher ,memorial1 with their wholly admirable treatment of lines and planes2 it is in the tender and spiritual feeling infused into the greatest of their bronze portraits that the unanswerable vindication lies of an imitation proved not too slavish and of a study that has not deadened but inspired4 ,it may indeed be the case that the lessons which they thus taught were sterilizing3 that the very enthusiasm for ,italian art which they showed and generated was destined to destroy the flower of native ,german art4 ,certain it is that the ,vischers founded no school and that individuality in ,german art was1 from this time forth1 blighted and crushed4 ,but there are a dozen other causes to which this same decay of the native art may with as much probability be attributed4 ,it is quite as likely to be due to the material facts of ,german domestic history as to the exotic influence of a foreign nation4 ,but for us it remains only to take the work of these craftsmen as they gave it to the world1 and to apportion to them the praise they have deserved4 ,they aimed1 with the most elaborate care and anxious perseverance1 at perfection of detail1 and this perfection they did frequently attain without prejudice to the proportionment and simplicity of the whole4 ,the artist who pays great attention to the minute is too often afflicted with a kind of sthetic myopia which prevents him from perceiving the defects of his complete design4 ,his work becomes too curious or else florid and ineffective4 ,this is the besetting sin of ,teutonic art1 and it is a danger to which metal-workers of all times and in all countries are especially liable4 ,the ,vischers in their best work succeeded in avoiding it1 for there we find a repose1 a dignity1 a simplicity and a spirituality which raises it to the level of the very best ever executed4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,catalogue ,,of ,,the ,,chief ,,works ,,by ,,or ,,attributed ,,to ,,hermann ,,vischer1 ,,his ,,son ,,peter ,,vischer ,,and ,,peter ,,vischer',s ,,sons1 ,,hermann1 ,,peter1 ,,and ,,johann ,,known ,,as ,,hans ,,der ,,giesser4 ,,hermann ,,vischer4 ,died1 #adhg4 ,,font4 ,signed1 8,,do ,,man ,,zalt ,,von ,,cristi ,,gepurt ,,mcccc ,,und ,,darnach ,,im ,,lvii ,,jar ,,an ,,sanct ,,michaels ,,tag ,,do ,,ward ,,dis ,,werk ,,volbracht ,,von ,,meister ,,herman ,,vischer ,,zu ,,nu,r,,be,g40 ,wittenberg1 #adeg4 ,,tomb-,,plates4 ,at ,meissen and ,bamberg4 ,l,,ffelholz ,,crucifix4 ,st4 ,sebaldus ,church1 ,nuremberg4 ,,peter ,,vischer4 #ade787-aebi4 ,,monument ,,of ,,count ,,otto ,,iv4 von ,henneberg4 ,stiftskirche1 ,rmhild1 #adhg 7874 ,,first ,,design ,,for ,a ,,sebaldusgrab4 ,signed with initials on either side of ,cross with hook emblem4 ,vienna1 #adhh4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,bishop ,,heinrich ,,iii41 ,gross von ,trockau4 ,probably after a design by ,w4 ,katzheimer4 ,cathedral1 ,bamberg1 #adib4 ,,monument ,,of ,,bishop ,,georg ,,ii41 ,marshal von ,ebenet4 ,from a design by ,w4 ,katzheimer4 ,cathedral1 ,bamberg1 #adib7874 ,,tomb ,,of ,,bishop ,,john ,,iv4 7,johann ,roth74 ,figures of six ,apostles4 ,signed1 8,,gemacht ,,zu ,,nuremberg ,,fon ,,mir ,,peter ,,fischer ,,im #adif ,,jar40 ,cathedral1 ,breslau1 #adif4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,archbishop ,,ernst4 ,described1 pp4 #bd-cj4 ,signed1 8,,gemacht ,,zu ,,nuremberg ,,von ,,mir ,,peter ,,vischer ,,rotgieszer ,,vnd ,,ist ,,volbracht ,,worden ,,do ,,man ,,zalt #a4d4i4g4 ,,jar40 ,cathedral1 ,magdeburg1 #adig4 ,,saint ,,maurice4 ,fountain in the ,court of the ,krafft ,house4 ,nuremberg4 ,,monument ,,of ,,bishop ,,veit4 ,after design by some other artist4 #adig-aijj4 ,,monument ,,of ,,count ,,eitel1 ,,friedrich ,,ii4 von ,hohenzollern and his wife ,magdalena1 ,countess of ,brandenburg4 ,after a drawing by ,albrecht ,drer4 ,partly destroyed in #aghb4 ,stadtkirche1 ,hechingen1 #aejj4 ,,monument ,,of ,,count ,,hermann ,,viii4 of ,henneberg and his wife ,elizabeth1 ,countess of ,brandenburg4 ,after the drawing by ,albrecht ,drer4 ,stiftskirche1 ,rmhild1 #aejj4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,cardinal-,,bishop ,,frederick4 ,from the ,vischer ,foundry1 but hardly from the ,master's hand4 ,cathedral1 ,cracow 7d4 #aejc74 ,,bishop',s ,,desk ,,with ,,brazen ,,eagle4 ,cathedral1 ,halberstadt1 #aeaj7874 ,,theodoric1 ,,king ,,of ,,the ,,goths4 ,tomb of ,maximilian4 ,innsbruck1 #aeac4 ,,christ ,,on ,,the ,,cross1 on a tablet of about six inches4 8,this was formerly in the ,silberrad ,collection4 ,count ,clam-,martinitz purchased it4 ,after his death it came into the possession of the ,director of the ,academy ,bergler1 who had it gilded40 ,retberg4 ,at ,prague1 #aeae4 ,,tomb-,,plate of ,burgomaster ,tiedemann ,beck and his wife4 ,marienkirche1 ,lbeck1 #aeba4 ,,memorial ,,tablet of ,prebendary ,henning ,goden4 7,crowning of ,mary47 ,schlosskirche1 ,wittenberg1 7,replica in ,erfurt ,cathedral71 #aeba4 ,,memorial ,,tablet of ,anton ,kress1 who is represented kneeling and praying before a crucifix4 ,s4 ,lorenzkirche1 ,nuremberg4 ,,smaller ,,works ,,in ,,the ,,germanic ,,museum1 ,,nuremberg1 ,,attributed ,,to ,,peter ,,vischer4 ,,dog ,,scratching ,,itself4 ,the authenticity of this is very doubtful4 ,it is not worthy of the ,master whose name it bears4 ,replicas in ,berlin and ,dresden4 ,,cardinal',s ,,head4 ,,neptune 7,fountain-figure74 ,,small ,,genius on a temple which rests on six columns4 ,three beasts of the sea1 hanging by their tails1 look out from it4 ,it is borne by six serpents4 ,it probably forms a small epitome of the ,sebaldusgrab4 ,,boy ,,with ,,bagpipes4 ,,works ,,by ,,the ,,family4 ,,st4 ,,wenzel 7from the ,vischer ,foundry1 but probably the work of an apprentice74 ,cathedral1 ,prague4 ,,tomb-,,plate ,,of ,,duchess ,,helene ,,of ,,mecklenburg 7,heraldic74 ,cathedral1 ,schwerin1 #aebh4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,st4 ,,sebald4 ,described in ,chap4 ,,iv4 ,signed1 see p4 #dd4 ,made with the aid of his five sons4 ,what share is due to each we have discussed in the text4 ,st4 ,sebalduskirche1 ,nuremberg1 #aejh-aeai4 ,,rathaus ,,railing4 ,by ,peter ,vischer and his sons1 notably ,hermann1 ,peter and ,hans4 ,formerly in the ,rathaus1 ,nuremberg4 ,destroyed #ahjf4 #aeae4 ,,peter ,,vischer ,,the ,,younger ,,medallion ,,portrait ,,of ,,his ,,brother ,,hermann4 ,inscription1 8,,hermanus,,vischer,m,,cccccvii40 #aejg4 ,,medallion ,,portrait ,,of ,,himself4 ,inscription1 8,,ego ,,petr',,tn#b ,,vischer ,,meus ,,alter4 #bb ,,ano #aeji40 #aeji4 ,,medallion ,,portrait ,,of ,,hermann ,,vischer4 ,inscription1 8,,herman',,tn#b ,,vischer4 ,,an4 #aeaa40 ,,king ,,arthur1 ,,tomb ,,of ,,maximilian4 ,innsbruck #aeac4 ,,inkstand4 77 ,vase decorated with medallion heads and scroll work between which is repeated the emblem of the two fish1 back to back1 impaled with a dagger4 ,a female figure1 helmeted1 stands by the vase1 pointing to herself4 ,a skull is thrust backward by her right foot4 ,against the vase rests a shield of quadrate form1 and on the ground is a club and a label with the motto ,,vitam ,,non ,,mortem ,,recogita1 inscribed in relief4 ,fortnum ,collection1 ,ashmolean ,museum1 ,oxford1 #aeaj7874 ,,inkstand4 77 ,a female figure1 pointing upwards1 rests on an oviform vase4 ,a round shield and sword lie upon the ground1 behind the figure and vase4 ,in the foreground is a skull4 ,against the vase rests a tablet on which runs the motto3 ,,vitam ,,non ,,mortem ,,recogita4 ,beneath these words is the emblem of the two fishes1 back to back1 impaled1 with the initials ,p4,v4 ,the date1 #aebe1 incised with emblem of cross and hook1 on the base4 ,fortnum ,collection1 ,ashmolean ,museum1 ,oxford1 #aebe4 ,,orpheus ,,and ,,eurydice4 ,plaquette 7,bas-,relief7 ,in the ,collection of ,m4 ,dreyfus4 ,paris1 #aeae787 ,,orpheus ,,and ,,eurydice4 ,plaquette 7,bas-,relief74 ,berlin ,museum1 #aebj 7circ474 ,,orpheus ,,and ,,eurydice4 ,plaquette1 as above4 ,museum1 ,hamburg1 #aebj 7circ474 ,,orpheus ,,and ,,eurydice4 ,plaquette1 as above4 ,institution of ,st4 ,paul1 ,carinthia1 #aebj 7circ474 ,all four plaquettes carry the sign of two fish back to back pierced by a nail4 ,,monument ,,of ,,frau ,,margarethe ,,tucher ,,of ,,nuremberg4 ,bas-relief of ,christ meeting the sisters of ,lazarus4 ,signed1 with initials on either side of cross with hook emblem 7see p4 #gd74 ,,normberge appears beneath the initials and sign1 and under it the date1 #aeba4 ,cathedral1 ,ratisbon 7,regensburg71 #aeba4 ,,monument ,,of ,,the ,,eissen ,,family4 ,bas-relief of the ,entombment4 ,signed1 with initials 8,p4 ,v40 on either side of mark4 ,the date on both sides of the cross4 8,,norimberge0 appears beneath the initials and sign4 ,st4 gidius ,church1 ,nuremberg1 #aebb4 ,,allegory ,,on ,,the ,,reformation4 ,aquarelle4 ,signed1 8,,petr4 ,,vish4 ,,facieb40 with date1 #aebd1 and mark4 ,goethe-,national-,museum1 ,weimar4 ,,the ,,nuremberg ,,madonna4 ,wooden model4 ,germanic ,museum1 ,nuremberg4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,cardinal ,,albrecht ,,of ,,brandenburg1 ,archbishop of ,magdeburg and ,mainz4 ,signed1 8,,op',,tn#b ,m4 ,,petri4 ,,fischers4 ,,norimberge3 #aebe40 ,stiftskirche1 ,aschaffenburg4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,elector ,,frederick ,,the ,,wise4 ,signed1 8,,opus4 ,m4 ,,petri4 ,,fischer4 ,,norimbergensis4 #aebg40 ,schlosskirche1 ,wittenberg1 #aebg4 ,,johann ,,vischer 7,,hans ,,der ,,giesser7 #adhh-aeib4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,bishop ,,lorenz ,,of ,,bibra4 ,cast by ,hans2 but the hand of ,peter ,vischer the elder is very likely traceable in the design4 ,cathedral1 ,wrzburg1 #aebi4 ,,apollo ,,fountain4 ,in the ,court of the ,rathaus1 ,nuremberg4 ,after a drawing by ,jacopo de' ,barbari4 #aecb4 ,,tomb ,,of ,,john ,,the ,,stable4 7,a weak imitation of the monument of ,frederick the ,wise by his brother47 ,signed1 8,h4 ,v40 ,schlosskirche1 ,wittenberg1 #aecd4 ,,canopy ,,over ,,the ,,tomb ,,of ,,st4 ,,margaret4 ,stiftskirche1 ,aschaffenburg1 #aecf4 ,,monument ,,of ,,hector ,,pomer4 ,s4 ,lorenzkirche1 ,nuremberg1 #aeda4 ,,monument ,,of ,,bishop ,,sigismund ,,of ,,lindenau4 7,signed with the initials 8,h4 ,f40 on either side of the mark of the ,vischers47 ,cathedral1 ,merseburg4 ,,tablet ,,with ,,high ,,relief ,,of ,,madonna ,,and ,,child4 ,signed1 8,,iohannes4 ,,vischer4 ,,noric4 ,,faciebat4 ,,mdxxx40 ,stiftskirche1 ,aschaffenburg1 #aecj4 ,,grave ,,plate ,,of ,,bishop ,,of ,,stadion4 7,crucifix between ,mary1 ,john and two ,bishops47 ,st4 gidius ,church1 ,nuremberg1 #aedc4 ,,double ,,monument ,,of ,,elector ,,joachim ,i4 ,,and ,,johann ,,cicero ,,of ,,brandenburg4 ,signed 8,,iohannes ,,vischer4 ,,noric4 ,,facieb4 #aecj40 7,the early portion probably in part designed by ,peter the elder47 ,cathedral1 ,berlin4 ,,hermann ,,vischer4 ,,the ,,apostle ,,bartholomew and other works on the ,sebaldusgrab4 ,nuremberg4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,index ,albrecht1 ,cardinal1 tomb of1 #hf1 #hg1 #ajb1 #abc4 ,allegory on the ,reformation1 aquarelle1 #hh4 ,apollo1 statue of1 #abe1 #abf4 ,arthur1 ,king1 statue of1 #ff1 #fi1 #gj1 #hc1 #aca4 ,aschaffenburg1 tomb of ,cardinal ,albrecht at1 #hf2 tablet at1 #abb1 #abc2 canopy over the tomb of ,st4 ,margaret at1 #abe4 ,bamberg1 tomb-plates at1 #f2 tomb of ,bishop ,heinrich ,,iii4 at1 #bb1 #cj2 tomb of ,bishop ,george ,,ii4 at1 #bb1 #cj4 ,barbari1 ,jacopo de'1 #ae1 #cg1 #eb1 #hi1 #abe1 #aca4 ,baumgrtner1 ,lucas1 #cb4 ,berlin1 tomb of the ,elector ,johann ,cicero1 in the ,cathedral at1 #abc1 #abd4 ,boy with ,bagpipes1 #aai1 #abj4 ,brandenburg1 ,magdalena1 ,countess of1 #cb1 #cc4 ,brandenburg1 ,elizabeth1 ,countess of1 #cc4 ,brandenburg1 ,cardinal ,albrecht von1 #hf2 tomb-plate of1 #hf1 #hg4 ,breslau1 tomb of ,bishop ,john ,,iv4 at1 #be4 ,bronze founding1 in ,germany1 #d1 #ab1 #abh4 ,clussenbach1 ,georg and ,martin von1 #e4 ,cocleus1 his ,cosmographia quoted1 #di4 ,decker1 ,hans1 #f4 ,donatello1 #gj1 #ga1 #aca4 ,dreyfus1 ,m41 #hi1 #ij4 ,drer1 ,albert1 #b1 #c1 #f1 #cb1 #cg1 #ea1 #eb1 #fd1 #fe1 #gf1 #hh1 #hi1 #abj1 #aca4 ,eissen ,monument1 the1 #gd1 #gg1 #gi4 ,eobanus ,hessus1 #ef4 ,fortnum1 ,h41 #ie4 ,frederick the ,wise1 #hi2 monument of1 #hg1 #aja-ajf4 ,fugger ,family1 the1 #aaj1 #aaa4 ,goden1 ,henning1 tablet to1 #gb1 #gc4 ,godl1 ,stefan1 #fe4 ,harsdorffer1 ,peter1 #bd4 ,hechingen1 monument at1 #cj1 #cb1 #cc1 #cd4 ,henneberg1 ,count ,otto ,,iv4 von1 monument of1 #bj4 ,henneberg1 ,count ,hermann ,,viii4 von1 monument of1 #cj1 #ca1 #cd4 ,hohenzollern1 ,count ,eitel ,friedrich ,,ii4 von1 monument of1 #cj1 #cb1 #cc4 ,holzschuher1 ,lazarus1 #db4 ,imhof1 ,peter1 #da1 #db4 ,innsbruck1 tomb of ,maximilian at1 #ff4 ,joachim ,i41 ,prince1 #abd4 ,john the ,stable1 ,prince1 memorial of1 #ajf4 ,katzheimer1 ,wolfgang1 #bb1 #cj4 ,krafft1 ,adam1 #c1 #aj1 #ad1 #ba1 #bd1 #bh1 #cf1 #dj1 #ef1 #fj1 #fd1 #hb4 ,lamberger1 ,simon1 #bb4 ,leonardo da ,vinci1 #ci1 #ea1 #gh1 #aca4 ,lindenast1 ,sebastien1 #aj1 #ah1 #dj4 ,magdeburg1 tomb of ,archbishop ,ernst at1 #ad1 #ae1 #bc-cj1 #eh1 #fj1 #fb1 #aag4 ,maximilian1 the ,emperor1 #fd1 #fe2 visit to ,peter ,vischer1 #fe2 tomb of1 #ff4 ,mecklenburg1 ,duchess ,helene von1 tablet to1 #aje1 #aba1 #abb4 ,meissen1 tomb-plates at1 #f4 ,merseburg1 tomb of ,bishop ,sigismund at1 #abb4 ,nuremberg1 position of1 #a1 #b2 the ,guild of ,coppersmiths at1 #f1 #ab1 #hg1 #ajb1 #ajd1 #aje1 #ajf1 #abh2 the ,rathaus ,railing1 #af1 #da1 #gb1 #aji-aah2 ,st4 gidius1 ,church of1 #gd2 ,st4 ,sebald1 ,church of1 font1 #e2 8,crucifixion0 outside1 #g2 statue of ,peter ,vischer in1 #c1 #d1 #ac2 the shrine of ,st4 ,sebald1 #ae1 #bj1 #ba1 #cf1 #da et seq41 #gd1 #gf1 #aag1 #aca4 8,nuremberg ,madonna10 the1 #hj1 #ha4 ,orpheus and ,eurydice1 plaquettes1 #dj1 #eh1 #gg1 #hi-id4 ,oxford1 ,ashmolean ,museum1 #ie1 #if1 #ig4 ,pfinzing1 ,melchior1 #fe4 ,philip1 ,elector-,palatine1 #bb1 #aje4 ,pirkheimer1 ,willibald1 #b1 #hh4 ,prussia1 ,duke ,albrecht of1 and ,peter ,vischer the younger1 #ajf1 #ajg1 #ajh4 ,ratisbon1 ,tucher ,monument at1 #g4 ,rmhild1 ,monument at1 #bj1 #cj1 #ca4 ,sachs1 ,hans1 #aj1 #hh4 ,st4 ,bartholomew1 statue of1 #fa1 #fc4 ,st4 ,maurice1 statuettes of1 #bh1 #bi1 #abj4 ,st4 ,paul1 statue of1 #ei1 #fj4 ,st4 ,peter1 statue of1 #df1 #fb1 #fc1 #ga4 ,st4 ,sebald1 statue of1 #df1 #dg4 ,st4 ,sebald's ,church--see ,nuremberg4 ,sansovino1 ,andrea1 #cg1 #ci1 #hi1 #ih1 #aaf1 #aca4 ,schedel1 ,weltchronik1 #ch4 ,schn1 ,martin1 #ae4 ,schreyer1 ,sebald1 #ch1 #da4 ,schwenter1 ,pancratz1 #ch4 ,schwerin1 tablet in the ,cathedral at1 #aba1 #abb4 ,sebaldusgrab1 the1 #ae1 #cf1 #da et seq41 #gd1 #gf1 #aag1 #aca2 model for1 #bj1 #ba4 ,stoss1 ,veit1 #b1 #ba1 #fj1 #fd1 #hb4 ,theodoric1 statue of1 #ff1 #fh1 #ga4 ,traut1 ,wolfgang1 #da4 ,tucher1 ,anton1 #da1 #db4 ,tucher ,monument1 the1 #gc1 #aca4 ,vischer1 ,barbara1 #ag1 #ah4 ,vischer1 ,eberhard1 #g4 ,vischer1 ,hans 7the ,founder71 #aj1 #ah1 #ajf2 completion of the ,rathaus ,railing by #aab2 inherits the foundry1 #ajh1 #abj2 works by1 #abb-abf2 leaves ,nuremberg1 #abg1 #abh1 #abi4 ,vischer1 ,hermann 7the elder71 #a1 #f1 #g1 #cf1 #fb4 ,vischer1 ,hermann 7the younger71 journey to ,rome1 #ae1 #da1 #aaj2 death of1 #ah1 #da2 figure of ,st4 ,bartholomew by1 #fc4 ,vischer1 ,jakob1 #ag4 ,vischer1 ,paul1 #ag1 #ah1 #ajh1 #abj4 ,vischer1 ,peter 7the elder71 statue of1 #c1 #d1 #ac2 birth and boyhood1 #g1 #i-aa2 domestic life1 #af-ah2 early works1 #bj2 summoned to ,heidelberg by the ,elector ,philip1 #bb2 return to ,nuremberg1 #bd2 the tomb of ,archbishop ,ernst1 #bd2 monuments at ,rmhild and ,hechingen1 #cj2 the shrine of ,st4 ,sebald1 #cf1 #da et seq42 visited by ,maximilian1 #fe2 figure of ,theodoric1 #fg1 #fh1 #ga2 quarrel with the ,fuggers1 #aaj1 #aaa2 death of1 #aaa4 ,vischer1 ,peter 7the younger71 #h2 journey to ,italy1 #ae1 #ch1 #ci1 #dj1 #ej2 medallions by1 #af1 #ci1 #dj2 marriage of1 #ag2 death of1 #ah1 #ajj2 his ,orpheus and ,eurydice plaquettes1 #dj1 #eh1 #gg1 #hi-id2 inkstands by1 #dj1 #eh1 #hd1 #hi1 #ie-ajj2 work on the ,sebaldusgrab by1 #eh1 #fb1 #gg1 #hd2 statue of ,king ,arthur1 #fg1 #fi1 #gj1 #hc2 the ,tucher monument1 #gd1 #ge2 the ,nuremberg ,madonna attributed to1 #hb-he2 tomb-plate of ,cardinal ,albrecht1 #hf1 #hg2 aquarelle by1 #hh2 tomb of ,elector ,frederick1 #aja-ajf2 ,duke ,albrecht's proposal to1 #ajf-ajh4 ,wittenberg1 font at1 #f1 #g1 #fb2 tablet at1 #gb1 #gc2 monument of the ,elector ,frederick at1 #aja4 ,wolgemut1 ,michel1 #c1 #ae1 #cf1 #ch1 #de1 #gf4 ,wrzburg1 tomb of ,bishop ,lorenz of ,bibra at1 #abc4 ------------------------------------ ,,chiswick ,,press3 ,,printed ,,by ,,charles ,,whittingham ,,and ,,co4 ,,tooks ,,court1 ,,chancery ,,lane1 ,,london4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,transcriber's note3 ,missing or obscured punctuation was corrected4 ,an entry for the ,index was added to the ,table of ,contents4 ,the ,table of ,contents was reformatted to be more readable4 ,in the list of ,illustrations1 the phrase 8,the ,same0 referred to the item above it4 ,because the location couldn't be right justified1 this wasn't clear and the text has been literally duplicated from the item above4 ,in the ,bibliography the same was done with ditto marks 7for 8,lbke071 which can't be aligned in ,,html the way the was on the printed page4 ,typographical errors were silently corrected4 ,inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book4