Norica

Front matter

It or ten.

PRINTED BY LEVEY, ROBSON, AND FRANKLYN, Great New Street, Fetter Lane.

Iowa:

Preface

IX

The reader's indulgence is craved for the attempts at versification in this little volume. The lines in the original do not rise above the character of such popular rhymes as we may suppose to have been current in Germany in the sixteenth century, and have been introduced rather as illustrations of manners than as specimens of poetry. As the metre of the original — often peculiar and elaborate, especially in the exercises of the Master-singers — has been imitated with as much closeness as practicable throughout, it is feared that the English translation will read still more like doggrel than its German prototype.

Sefcuatetf

WITH THE PROFOUNDEST RESPECT

TO

THE ALBRECHT DUBEB ASSOCIATION

THE CONSERYATORIOI OF ANTIQUITIES IN THE CITY OF NDRNBERG.

CONTEXTS.

I. First Sojourn IX Nurnrerg

CHAP. PAGE

I. Entrance into Xiirnberg. St. Sebaldus-day . 17 II. The remarkable Public Works of Art in Xiirnberg 39

III. The Artists Yischer, Krafft, and Lindenast . 59

IV. Albrecht Diirer the Painter. The Picture of

the Assumption of the Virgin ... 74

V. Albrecht Diirer's Book of Recollections . 94 VI. The Counsellor Wilibald Pirckheimer at

Neunhof 117

VII. Diirer's Pupils. Woodcuts to the Poem of

Teuerdank 138

VIII. The Sculptor Krafft in his Workshop . 170

II. Second Sojourn In Nurnrerg

I. The surly Shoemaker. The Herren-keller . 187

II. The Red-smith Peter Vischer and his Sons . 207

III. The Wood-carver Veit Stoss . . . 227 xiv Contents.

IV. The Emperor Maximilian I. The Triumphal

Car, a fresco by Durer in the Townhall . 247 V. The Cemetery of St. John, with the Sculptures

of Adam KrafFt , . 267

VI. The Singing- school of the Master- singers.

Hans Sachs in the Tavern . . . .283 VII. DUrer receives a visit from Thomas of Bologna, a pupil of Raphael . . . .311 VIII. The Crowning of the Poet Pirckheimer. (Unfinished) . . .... .35

Conclusion

A Letter from Pirckheimer, and a Postscript by the Author 367

Part I. First Sojourn In Nurnberg

r~

Introduction

BY THE EDITOR.

y great-uncle Gottsched, who fled from his native city in the fear that he might have to exchange the curls of his ecclesiastical peruke for the queue of a grenadier, was wont to say : " Before Amsterdam arose, and Hamburg lifted up its head, Niimberg was the Venice of Germany." If we regard only its commercial and political prosperity, the judgment of this author, whom Pinkerton, as late as the year 1811, celebrates as the greatest critic of the Germans, cannot be disputed. But if we consider the

Introduction.

flourishing condition of the arts at that period, then may Niirnberg rather deserve to be called the Florence of Germany ; a title which another native poet, of a different stamp, has adjudged to another German city. Though separate rays of art early dawned upon various regions of Italy, these were united in Florence in a fountain of light, from which Fabriano and Sanzio, the founders of the Venetian and Eoman schools, drew their illumination. Florence was the seminary of all the arts which, vying with each other, wreathed the fame of its magnanimous rulers with unfading crowns. In like manner did German art attain to similar dignity in Niirnberg, through an active competition, which was fostered by a generous expenditure, and assumed a peculiar form under the regulations of its various

Introduction.

guilds.* After this flourishing period of Niirnberg, if we except the constant progress in architecture, we know of individual artists indeed, but of no art in Germany.

My attention was directed to the history of art in Niirnberg by the discovery of a manuscript, which has appeared to

* The comparison between the artistic life in Florence and in Niirnberg may also not unaptly be extended to individual artists of these two cities, as, for example, between Lionardo da Vinci and Albrecht Durer. Both, distinguished by an incomparable dignity of bearing, applied not to one merely, but to several arts, and both were men acquainted with theory. Both made essays in poetry and the plastic art. Lionardo threw out bold architectural plans, and Durer shewed his knowledge of the art of building not merely by sketching designs for houses, but especially by his " Treatise on the Fortification of Castles." Both sought to develope the laws of perspective. We possess a work of Durer' s on " Fighting and Wrestling," and Lionardo designed a book of com-

Introduction.

me not unworthy of publication. It is from the hand of a Frankfurt merchant, Jacob Heller, who, having the advantage of some learning, but rather perhaps a lover of art than a connoisseur, resided for a considerable time in Niirnberg at the beginning of the sixteenth century, and noted down circumstantially whatever he saw and heard whilst there of artists and their works. The manu-

plete battles. Durer produced an elaborate work on " the Study of the Horse," and Lionardo on " the Anatomy and Figure of Horses." Moreover, the paintings of both bear a considerable resemblance to each other. The earlier designs of Lionardo exhibit the slender forms, the long visages, the stiff gold- coloured hair, which we find in representations of saints of the oldest period. Mengs says of him, " His manner is somewhat dry ; there is an extreme finish in his pictures ; his colouring is rather too brown and red ; and the folds of his drapery are somewhat broken." The same observation forces itself upon us in regard to Durer.

Introduction.

script is preserved in the University library of this place.

Among' the books which the Margrave Albrecht of Brandenburg, the founder of the University, presented to the librarv, occurs a folio containing writings of Diirer's. Albrecht probably obtained it through the well-known Lucas Cranach, to whom he wrote in the following terms :

" It is our friendly request, that you would purchase for us, and forward as speedily as possible, all the new and good books worth reading which have recently come out in your city or elsewhere, and which you can procure/'

In a letter of Cranach's, in which he complains that the money advanced by him for this purpose still remained unpaid after the lapse of years, the following words occur :

Introduction.

" I wrote to your Grace last Christmas concerning the books which I forwarded to your Grace."

The folio alluded to contains the following writings bound up together.

1st. " Instructions in the Art of Mensuration with the Circle and Kuler, in Lines, Surfaces, and Solid Bodies, compiled by Albrecht Durer, and printed with suitable figures, in the year 1525."

2d. " Certain Directions for the Fortification of Cities, Castles, and Towns : printed at Niirnberg, 1527."

3d. " Herein are contained four books on the Proportions of the Human Body, devised and written by Albrecht Diirer of Niirnberg, 1528."

This folio was evidently at one time a valued treasure of Jacob Heller's (though after his death carelessly thrown among lumber), since in it I found the manu-

Introduction.

script which I here give to the public. My wish to repair now, by its publication, the wrong of more than three hundred years, during which it has lain unnoticed in the folio, injured not by use, but by the place where it w 7 as reposited, has had to encounter not a few difficulties. There is a haste and carelessness in its composition, evidenced by the want of neatness in the manuscript, which is indeed difficult to decipher, so that few readers would be tempted by its contents to undergo the toil of giving it a perusal. Scarcely a single sentence is completed ; many things are twice or even three times repeated, without any reason ; no where is visible an effort to preserve uniformity, least of all in the orthography ; as, for instance, the name of Pirckheimer, often as it occurs, is always differently spelled. Thus, the

Introduction.

manuscript appeared to me to demand what Diirer says in one of his letters : " Eead it according to the sense !" and I saw myself compelled to violate the duty of a conscientious editor.

Meanwhile the improvements which I have allowed myself relate merely to the form, since I have carefully avoided substituting any foreign matter for the author's own, commenting on him, or

even re-modelling his judgments on art, however different these may be from present views. The antique style has been banished ; but I did not therefore wish to deprive the work of its antique character, and some pages of the original are given word for word. Still, as a whole, the book has been compressed and abbreviated, and in particular with regard to many letters which were added as vouchers, some have been altogether

Introduction.

omitted, and of others merely the contents have been given. Nothing is more difficult in innovations of this description, than to observe the due limits — where to retain the old, and where to alter it. It is hoped, therefore, that the candid reader will excuse an inequality in the style which could hardly be avoided.

THE EDITOR.

Konigsberg, February 1829.

BY THE AUTHOR^

JACOB HELLER.

H t was in Passion-week, that I was kneeling before the altar of the Dominican Church in my native city of Frankfurt, and imploring of God the forgiveness of my sins. I knelt upon the stone which covered the grave of my deceased wife. "With tears in my eyes, I looked up at the altar-piece, which, as is usual on festival days, was exposed to view. The panels which enclose it, painted on both sides, represent the figures of saints in such perfection, that only after comparing them with the centre-piece could the eye turn away. Never did the look of the glorified Virgin, as she rises to heaven,

Preliminary Statement.

free from the bonds of earthy amid a choir of lovely cherubs, fill me with a deeper sense of sadness and devotion. With no less yearning and sorrow did I look towards her, than the company of Apostles who are represented in the lower part of the picture as assembled around her grave.

Often had I regarded this work of art — which I myself had presented to the church — with love and admiration; but since the effect of the first impression, never had I felt myself so touched with its beauty as on this occasion.

Whilst I was thus entirely given up to my emotions, some one plucked my sleeve, and I perceived my dear son, who had been despatched after me to the church. " What have you brought me, dear Willibald?" I asked. " A letter from Niirnberg," was his answer ; " a letter from my godfather, which you have been long expecting." As I stretched out my hand for the letter, with a kind feeling he held it back, and hesitated to give it up to me. I took it from him, and remarked that the seal was black. Overcoming a slight shudder, I rapidly glanced over the letter, deeply moved at its contents. " Albrecht Diirer," I exclaimed, " thou art no longer a wanderer among mortals ! thou glorious and pious master, who hast so well expressed thy feelings in this Assumption of Mary ! It was in Passion-week that Art had to deplore the death of Raphael Sanzio ; and it is in Passion-week also that thou, his friend, who even in thy death folio west his example, takest thy departure from us."

I thought of the death of Albrecht, and of all the masters who, ten years before, on my second stay in Niirnberg, had given me such touching proofs of affection, and who were now no more. The Lord's-day was on this occasion more than ever only a celebration of delightful memories. " How long will it be," thought I, " ere I too shall have measured the span of life, and be united with the friends who are gone before ! My purpose now be this, to leave a worthy legacy to those who are dear to me, — a legacy independent of the uncertain riches of prosperity. In this desponding and unloving age, which will not smooth its brow at the touch of joy, let my legacy be the true confession that I have lived happily, and that man may still live happily on earth. To comfort, strengthen, and encourage the desponding, I am resolved to give a faithful and circumstantial account of the happiest days of my life."

In confidential intercourse with the first artists and scholars that ever lived, surrounded by the most glorious works of art that have ever existed, Nurnberg opened to me a paradise on earth. Since I intend to record for my relatives and friends what I have often related to them on a cheerful evening after the toils of the day, I am still afraid, notwithstanding my purpose strictly to follow the truth, that I may here and there unintentionally have departed from it. For, as I keep no journal but that of my expenses, and only copied from writings what struck me as remarkable ; as, after my return home, I constantly received letters from the artists of Niirnberg who were my friends ; as every one who brought me greetings thence was obliged to give me at table a particular account of all that was occurring in the field of ar^ — it may happen that my memory sometimes errs, and that I estimate the works of an artist by my value for the man ; that I do not always clearly distinguish earlier from later events ; and that I suppose I have seen with my own eyes what I only know from the report of others. He who has any pleasure in hearing my narrative to the end, will overlook my imperfections ; and he who will lend me no ear, has no right to subject me to reproach.

FIRST SOJOURN IN NURNBERG.

Chapter I

ENTRANCE INTO NURNBERG. ST. SEBALDUS' DAY.

err Hans Imhoff of Niirnberg was known to me as a good business-friend long before my marriage. He had often invited me to pay him a visit, that I might admire the wonders of the old imperial city, and become acquainted with the remarkable men then living there, more especially with Albrecht Diirer, the prince of artists ; for he well knew my fondness both for art and' science. I had already given employment to many painters, and was negociating with Diirer himself for an altar-piece. As I had no ties of wife or children to detain me at home, and as I promised myself important business connexions from a journey to Niirnberg, Augsburg, and Regensburg, I resolved so much the more readily to accept the invitation.

It was at the end of July when I stept into my travelling-wagon, and without delay pressed on to my destination. For I do not approve of hunting after sights right and left on a journey ; because, to see any thing thoroughly requires repose, and this is inconsistent with quick travelling. Already at Erlangen, I saw the towers of the Pegnitzstadt* glittering in the horizon, and hoped in another hour to enter its gates. What at this point could be more vexatious to me than the following accident ? One of my pair of black horses, plagued with the heat and the flies, flung out and struck the coachman just as he was mounting the box. He fell to the ground, never, as he thought, to rise again. The case, however, was not so bad as that ; though it was bad enough, since I was compelled to give up the pleasure of

* The city of the Pegnitz, — the river on which Niirnberg stands.

Accident at Erlangen. 19

going farther with him. I ordered the wounded man to be carried immediately into the inn, and commended him strictly to the care of the host. I then besought him to provide me with a clever driver, who would take me to Niirnberg^ and who was well acquainted with the place. There I intended to remain till my own coachman could resume his duties. The host immediately introduced to me a trusty person who was just come in from Niirnberg, and who would be very happy to drive me thither, as he would otherwise have to sro back on foot. This was just what I wanted, and I felt how constantly some unexpected good turns up as a compensation to him who quickly sets about remedying a misfortune. I asked the driver, who wore a blue smock, if he could find the house of Herr Hans Imhoff. " Yes, with my eyes blindfolded," was his reply. Scarcely had a quarter of an hour elapsed, when I was again seated in my wagon, and observed with satisfaction that my driver understood his business, and was, moreover, a very shrewd fellow. So when he perceived that I was pleased with him, he quickly made me acquainted with every particular concerning himself, his dwelling, and his ancestors. I listened to him patiently, since no other subject of conversation just then offered itself. The towers of Niirnberg constantly stood out clearer in the blue distance, and the first object which arrested my eye was the wall of an old fortress, with outworks and watch-towers. I inquired concerning these objects, and he gave me the following account.

" Honoured sir, the greyest head in the city is not so grey as this wall, nor did any one now living see it rise. It has come down to us from the infernal days of heathendom. That thick round tower was built by the Emperor Nero. There was a devil for you ! Nebuchadnezzar contented himself with hay, but Nero sucked nothing but pure human blood. There he sat on the watch-tower, like a crow upon the house-top, looking all around for his prey. Because he led this

Approach to Nilmber g. 21

wicked life here, the rock on which the tower stands was called Nero-berg;* and this is the true name of Niirnberg. And now the Emperor resides there, when he comes to us from Vienna — I mean, in the castle close by ; but he does not go on in this way. That square tower with the four projecting windows there is the Lug -ins - Land,f which has already for many a goodly year overlooked the country, and may for many more, without being tired of looking." In the meantime we had approached pretty near the city, and so much the more impatient was I, when my coachman stopped. And yet I did not like to object. He went to the horses, stroked down their manes, unloosed their tails, and made them as clean as at that moment was possible. Then came his own turn. He combed his hair smooth with a great comb which he carried with him, then drew off his blue smock, and equipped himself in a better garb.

* Nero's rock. f View over the country.

22 None a.

" Do all the Niirnbergers make such a point of neatness when they go into the city ?" I asked, a little impatiently. " Yes," he replied ; " to-day no one would do otherwise, since then what would my lord Sebaldus say?" When he perceived that I knew nothing of this lord, he continued thus. " He is the first person in all Niirnberg ; even when the Emperor Maximilian stays with us, he is of little importance compared with him. The palace of the emperor is great, but his is still greater. Do you see the church with the two towers there above the red roof? There dwells the holy Sebaldus. It is but little inferior to the Lorenz church, which has also two towers, but which lies farther orf. Ay, you might travel far before you would find a minster like that of St. Lorenz. Yet, as I am a true man, to-day St. Sebaldus's church out-tops them all — and rightly too, for to-day is the 19th of August, and the festal day of St. Sebaldus. The saint cannot fail to work some wonders."

St. Sebaldus. 23

The coachman now remounted the box, and urged forward his horses. In his desire to tell me of the wonderful deeds of St. Sebaldus, he would not for a long time drive in, and kept repeating to me : " To-day is his festal day. There you will see life for once — jubilee and rejoicing indeed! Ay, he who has never had time to rest, to-day will sit quietly with his hands on his knees ; and he who cannot move a foot for age, will to-day vie with the youngest in the dance ; he who has lived the whole year on bread and salt, will not go to-day without his roast. If you would know, then, who is the first patron -saint of Nvirnberg, I will tell you truly fine things of him. You will perhaps call them lies, and think they are but bathstories;* but, believe me, it is all written down as I tell you.

" In the time of the Emperor Constantine,

* The baths, which were formerly much frequented at Niirnberg, had an ill name for the lies that were hatched there. " That comes from the bath," was a proverbial expression for a lie.

there lived in Denmark a god-fearing king, and his queen was so too. For a long time they had prayed for children in vain, and had made a vow, that if ever they should have one, they would bring it up for a paragon of every virtue. And in truth, when their son Sebaldus was born to them, they spared on him neither labour nor expense. At the age of fifteen, they sent him to the University of Paris, and there he soon knew by heart and understood the sense of all sacred learning, so that he put the doctors themselves to shame. He returned to his parents, pure in his life, and full of superhuman wisdom. And when they proposed to him to marry, he shewed that amidst all the fame which he had acquired abroad, he had not forgotten the obedience of a son. With great simplicity he asked what maiden he should marry ; since their will would be his choice.

"Whilst his parents were taking it into consideration, it so happened, that a swallow flew by with a lock of woman's hair in its bill ; and, as is common with these birds, passed to

Legend of St. Sebaldus. 25

and fro several times, and at length laid the hair at the feet of the young man. They all thought this a divine appointment, and that the woman to whom this hair belonged was destined to be his wife. The young lord Sebaldus was as handsome and manly as he was rich and noble ; and so it happened that the maidens far and near, whose hair was of similar brown colour with this single lock, strove to prove their right to it, as an invaluable treasure. There was not one who had not her little tale to tell, how she had lost this hair, and how she alone deserved the preference before all her rivals. Among them also was many a wanton damsel, who ventured to approach the pious lord Sebaldus. How all the people in the city, ay, indeed in all Denmark, stared, when he made choice of the most wanton of them all ! She was one from Paris. His parents were ready to expire with vexation, but the hair matched, and Sebaldus thought himself happy to be so early called to convert a sinner from the error of her ways. The business of conversion was difficult, and would never have been accomplished, had not his chosen one, notwithstanding her levity in other respects, conceived a decided affection for him. Instead of joking, toying, and dancing, she was now seen only to weep and pray, and mortify herself. Once and again he bound her by an oath never to give her love to any other man besides himself. And now, when a pious penitent had grown out of a light-minded worldling, the day for the nuptials was fixed. The wedding — it was a genuine mourning feast! When all the guests had departed, and the newly-married pair were alone, the lord Sebaldus admonished her as was his custom, made her once more swear eternal fidelity to him, and then represented to her, how a marriage had nothing criminal in it, but how a holy marriage was, of all relations on the earth, the most pleasing in the sight of God. For a long time the bride could not see the meaning of this, but as he did not fail in eloquent words, she was compelled at last to assent. Once more did he make ber renew her vow of fidelity to

Legend of St. Sebaldas. 27

kirn, and tken fled from ker, and never saw ker more.

" Tke lord Sebaldus now gave kis money to tke famisking, kis beautiful clotkes to tke naked, and clad in a coarse garment witkdrew to a wood, tkere built kimself a hut with bougks of trees, and subsisted on wild fruits. Every eartkly vanity ke kad cast aside, and tkus easily ascended by tke ladder of prayer to tke presence of God. As ke kad once kealed a cripple by invoking all tke saints, tke fame of kis sanctity spread far and wide, and attested tke blessing of solitude, wkick kad been so propitious to bim. From all quarters tke wretcked and tke keavy-laden flocked to kim, and ke raised tkem up from tke burden of tkeir sorrows. Otker god-inspired men joined tkemselves to him, and often, wken tkey complained of hunger, ke related to tkem tke history of tke five loaves and two fiskes ; and tkey felt tkemselves tke more edified, wken an empty pitcker immediately became filled witk wine, arid an angel brougkt tkem bread. Wken tke lord Sebaldus bad

Norica.

satisfied his soul with prayer, he resolved to travel with his companions to the holy father at Rome. The Pope graciously extended his slipper to the man of God, and granted him the office of instructing and converting all the heathens in Germany beyond the Danube.

" But the lord Sebaldus could not restrain his zeal, and entered upon his office from the moment that he left Rome. It would take too long to relate, how he preached so as to soften the stony heart; how he made the blind to see and the lame to walk, the deaf to hear and the hungry to go away filled. He gained much praise, but some derision also. The latter he willingly endured, since it shewed him he had still something to convert. Thus, some one once cried out, when he was preaching, c People, believe him not ! Sebaldus is a liar. It is as true as that I cannot fly without wings, that the lord Sebaldus has wrought no miracle.' Scarcely had the heretic said this, when he found it difficult to stand, could not set his feet firmly on the ground, stretched out his arms as if he would seize

Legend of St. Sebaldns. 29

hold of the air, and as he straggled, felt that he was continually rising higher ; and, like a bit of down, ever driven upwards by the wind, he atoned for his sfuilt, and cried vehemently. Then did Sebaldus pray for him, and the mocker found rest again, and prayed with him. TTith difficulty did the man of God continue his journey. Nature : ust in the struggle between winter and spring, and it happened that when the saint reached the bank of the Danube, the rush of ice broke the bridge in pieces, and carried it away. His companions, the holy TTilibaldus and TTunibaldus, looked tremblingly at their leader. He trembled not, but throwing off his cowl, laid it on the water, stept on to it, and swam across the raging flood, which scarcely wetted his feet.

•'• On the farther side of the river, a woman saw him ; and when he reached the shore, somewhat frozen, but otherwise well and in good condition, she knelt before him, and cried out, that God had been gracious to her, in that he had permitted her to be-

3°

Norica.

hold such, a miracle with living eyes. She immediately led the lord Sebaldus into her thatched cottage. It was very cold, and she had no wood to kindle a fire. Her guest knew what to do, and bade her bring lumps of ice, and they burnt like dry wood. When the peasants in the neighbourhood heard this, they rejoiced, and they also took ice and tried it on the fire ; but their hope soon melted away to water. The poor woman fell at the feet of the saint, and praised God. She then related to him, with tears, that she had yesterday lost all her worldly goods, that is to say, two oxen, which had escaped from the stall, and could no more be found. Meanwhile, night had come on, and the husband returned lamenting, with the tidings that he had sought for them in vain. The lord Sebaldus bade him go once more to the wood, and pray as he went, and he would find his oxen. c In the night V replied the peasant, with a grin. But the saint repeated his command, his wife overpowered him with her entreaties, and he went. He thought it

His removal to Niirnberg. 3 1 was night, but around him it was day, and his hand shone like the sun. He prayed, and found his cattle. How great was their joy and rapture when the oxen were led home again ! The good couple knelt down and kissed the feet and hands of their benefactor. They besought him to say what they could bring him, not as a recompense, but in token of their gratitude. ' Be pious, and I am thanked sufficiently, 5 said Sebaldus. But the people, who were overflowing with gratitude, were not satisfied with this, and continued their entreaties with vet more earnestness. Departing from them, he cried out : * Who knows whether I may not some time ask you to render me a service, and who knows whether you will then do it for me?' At this the poor people felt themselves humbled and grieved, and they protested that their gratitude was sincere.