DESIGNS FOR BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS
Holbein’s work for the Basel publishers—Imperfection of the cutting of
his earlier book illustrations—His connection with Hans
Lützelburger—His first title-page—More’s _Utopia_—the Table of
Cebes—Luther’s translation of the New Testament—Title-page to the
quarto edition—Work for Luther’s translation of the Old Testament—“The
Sale of Indulgences”—“Christ the True Light”—Woodcuts representing
incidents of common life, dancing, merry-making, &c.—Initial letters
and alphabets—Trade-marks and devices for printers.
THROUGHOUT the whole period of his first residence in Basel a
considerable part of Holbein’s time was occupied with the production of
designs for book illustrations, such as title-pages, head and
tail-pieces, ornamental borders, initial letters, and printers’ marks.
Including the “Dance of Death” and Old Testament illustrations, and the
various alphabets of his designing, Woltmann enumerates more than three
hundred woodcuts or metal engravings, large or small, for which Holbein
made the drawings. Much of his work of this kind was done for Froben,
but he was also frequently employed by Adam Petri, Thomas Wolff, and
other printers and publishers.
The old contention that Holbein himself cut the blocks bearing his own
designs, which at one time produced much acrimonious dispute and a
voluminous literature, has long since been abandoned, and there is
absolutely nothing to be said in its favour. He must, however, have had
a thorough working knowledge of the technical side of woodengraving, and
of the limits within which it was necessary to confine his art; and
within those limits he produced the most splendid results.
A number of his earlier designs were not cut in wood, but in metal. The
method was similar to that of wood-cutting, the drawing being left in
relief, as on the wood block, a process exactly opposite to copperplate
engraving, in which the lines to be reproduced are incised. Several of
his title-pages and ornaments from metal blocks bear the initials I.F.
upon them, and it was at one time considered that they were probably the
work of Froben himself,[433] who is described more than once as
“chalcographer,” or a worker in metal. The term, however, may mean only
a designer and caster of type, which was a trade Froben followed side by
side with that of a publisher. The I.F. of these engravings was not
Froben, but Jakob Faber, who was the best of the cutters in metal who
worked after Holbein. Froben, no doubt, employed a permanent staff of
engravers, both for his own publications and also for the sale of blocks
and plates to other publishers. Faber was possibly one of those who
found more or less regular employment in his service, and another was
the engraver with the signature “C.V.,” who engraved the eight metal
cuts in illustration of the Lord’s Prayer, which appeared about 1523,
badly printed, in two rare editions of the _Precatio Dominica_ of
Erasmus, copies of which are included in the William Mitchell Collection
in the British Museum. The proofs in the Basel Gallery have German text;
the Mitchell set, with a clause of the Paternoster in French printed at
the top of each cut, is a unique state, and the impressions are very
early and sharp. The same “C.V.” engraved in metal the Evangelists in
the Greek Testaments of 1524 and 1540.
One of the finest of Faber’s metal-cuts is the folio title-page issued
by Cratander in 1525, representing Christ before God the Father,
surrounded by a great crowd of boy-angels, in the lunette at the top,
the symbols of the four Evangelists in niches shown in perspective at
the sides, and the Apostles at the foot. This title-page is made up of
four separate plates, each of which bears the initials “I.F.”[434] Quite
recently (1913) the British Museum has received from the National
Art-Collections Fund a rare Book of Hours, printed at Lyon in 1548,
containing fourteen metal-cuts by Faber after Holbein’s designs.
[Sidenote: HANS LÜTZELBURGER]
According to Woltmann, many copper plates after Holbein’s designs were
still in existence in Basel as late as 1852, in the possession of the
family of a publisher named Haas, but were subsequently sold on a
division of the property, all further traces of them being lost.[435]
These metal engravings of Holbein’s book ornaments as a rule do but
little justice to the original designs, and compare very unfavourably
with the later wood engravings cut by Hans Lützelburger. They miss much
of the strength and character of Holbein’s line, and are marked by a
hardness of effect which is by no means pleasing.
Many of the earlier wood engravings, too, suffer in the same way from
the imperfection of the cutting, inferior workmen having been employed
to reproduce them, just as in the case of the book illustrations of
Ambrosius Holbein, who was employed by Froben quite as often as his
brother Hans, and whose work also suffered from inadequate translation.
It thus becomes difficult, in the case of several unsigned prints, to
decide which of the two young men was the designer of them. In these
earlier efforts, too, Hans had not reached to that pitch of excellence
in adapting his design to the requirements of the wood-cutters to which
he attained some years later, when he was working in conjunction with
Lützelburger, nor had his powers of draughtsmanship and composition yet
found their complete expression. Having at length met with an engraver
who could do full justice to his ideas, and one who was as great a
master in one branch of art as he himself was in another, Holbein’s
genius for decorative design matured rapidly, so that the two men
between them produced works in this field which have never been
surpassed. They worked together from the autumn of 1522 until
Lützelburger’s death and Holbein’s departure from Basel in 1526.
Modern researches have failed to glean much information about the life
and career of Lützelburger. On a tablet below a wood engraving of his
cutting representing a battle between peasants and naked men in a fir
wood in Utopia, designed by the unknown Augsburg master N.H., he signs
himself “HANNS. LEVCZELLBVRGER. FVRMSCHNIDER. 1.5.2.2.” At a later date,
on the proofs of Holbein’s “Dance of Death” alphabet, he calls himself
“Hanns Lützelburger, furmschneider, genant Franck,” that is, “Hans
Lützelburger, wood-engraver, called Franck.” This is printed in movable
type, the first H being an ornamented Roman capital, while the other
letters of the name are in the German character. He was one of the group
of wood-engravers who were working at Augsburg about 1516-19, under the
direction of Jost de Negker, on the blocks for the Emperor Maximilian,
and his name is written or his monogram cut upon the back of nine of the
“Triumph” blocks, still preserved at Vienna, and he also cut nine of the
series of “Saints connected with the House of Habsburg” in 1516-17. All
available evidence indicates that the “Battle of Naked Men” was engraved
in Augsburg. In the same year, 1522, Lützelburger cut an alphabet for
the printer Schöffer at Maintz, of which the letter L is signed
“H.L.F.,” and the same date and initials occur on two specimen
ornamental alphabets evidently designed by the same unknown artist.[436]
Whether he was residing at Maintz at the time is uncertain, but by the
autumn of 1522 Lützelburger had moved to Basel, and was at work on Adam
Petri’s folio New Testament. There he remained until his death in the
summer of 1526, in constant collaboration with Holbein, engraving, among
many other designs, the “Dance of Death” woodcuts and many of the Old
Testament illustrations. What little is known of him points rather to
Augsburg than to Basel as his place of birth, though, according to Herr
His-Heusler’s researches, a family of that name was then living in
Basel, the names of both a Michael and a Jakob Lützelburger appearing in
the baptismal register of St. Leonhard between 1529 and 1533; while the
same name occurs frequently in the parish register of the adjacent town
of Colmar during the first half of the sixteenth century. Further
documents discovered by His-Heusler show that Lützelburger died in Basel
before the 23rd June 1526, and that he was insolvent at the time. Among
his creditors were the printer, Melchior Trechsel, of Lyon, for an
advance of 27 florins 15 shillings, and Hans zum Sessel (Froben), for 3
florins 10 shillings. Trechsel, the publisher of the “Dance of Death”
and “Old Testament” woodcuts, on hearing of Lützelburger’s death, also
demanded certain wood blocks ordered by his firm, for which the money
had been advanced, upon which the deceased had been at work. These
blocks were sent to him on the condition that he appointed some person
of substance in Basel as security, in case some other creditor proved to
have prior claims on the estate; and in accordance with this arrangement
he appointed Johan Lukas Iselin as his surety.[437] In the list of
Lützelburger’s furniture and effects seized by the court he is described
merely as “Hans Formschneider,” but there is no doubt that this
“form-cutter” was Lützelburger, who at the time of his death was cutting
the block of “The Waggoner” for the “Dance of Death,” which he left
incomplete.
Holbein drew all these designs directly on the wood block. There is not
a single sketch or study in existence for any one of the very numerous
book illustrations and decorations which he produced.[438] His
title-pages consist, in almost every case, of an ornamental framework of
Renaissance design with small panels on either side containing figure
subjects, usually taken from classical history or mythology, and across
the bottom a larger panel in which the chief subject is depicted. These
title-pages do not always consist of a single block, but of four
separate borders or strips, not always used together, but combined with
others, or used singly as chapter-headings or sidepieces. These
title-pages, designed in the first place for some particular book, were
thus afterwards often made to serve for the ornamentation of other
publications, with which at times their subjects had very little
connection; and they were also copied by various publishers and printers
in other cities of Switzerland and in Germany and elsewhere.
[Sidenote: “MUCIUS SCÆVOLA AND LARS PORSENA”]
Holbein’s earliest design for this purpose, drawn in 1515, shortly after
his arrival in Basel, and signed with the abbreviated name “Hans Holb.,”
has been already described.[439] This title-page, with its nine little
cupids, which has suffered from inferior cutting, but nevertheless has
considerable charm, was first used by Froben in the winter of 1515, and
appeared in a number of books issued during the next five years,
including More’s _Utopia_, published by Froben in 1518. The first of his
designs from ancient history formed the title-page to _Æneæ Platonici
Christiani de immortalitate animæ_, issued by Froben in 1516, and also
appeared in the Basel edition of the _Utopia_, and again in Erasmus’
_Praise of Matrimony_ in 1518. It represents the story of Mucius Scævola
and Lars Porsena (Pl. 60),[440] but has been so badly cut that much of
the dramatic force of Holbein’s composition has been lost. When Porsena,
the Etruscan king, was blockading Rome, after his attempted entry into
the city had been frustrated by the bravery of Horatius Cocles, Mucius,
a young Roman nobleman, resolved to rid his country of the invader. In
disguise he entered the hostile camp, and, approaching the tent in which
Porsena sat, with his secretary, dressed in similar fashion to his
master, by his side, plunged his dagger into the latter’s body,
mistaking him for the king. He was seized by the guards, and condemned
to death, but thrust his right hand into a fire which was already
lighted for a sacrifice, and held it there without flinching, to show
how little he heeded pain. Amazed at his bravery, Porsena allowed him to
go free; and Mucius afterwards received the name of Scævola, or the
left-handed, on account of his courage. Holbein has depicted the two
chief incidents of this legendary story side by side across the bottom
of the title-page. On the right is an open tent, in which Mucius is
stabbing the secretary, who is seated at a table by the side of the
king. On the left, Mucius, held by a guard, plunges his hand into the
fire in the presence of Porsena and his courtiers. Over each of the
principal characters is a label with his name, and in the background is
a small walled city labelled “Roma.” The figures, which are clad in
sixteenth-century costume, are short and stumpy, these faults, no doubt,
being exaggerated by the inadequate rendering of the engraver. The sides
of the page consist of two narrow panels of conventional foliated
design, with small figures, springing from vases, while the upper border
contains a group of naked children, blowing trumpets and dragging one of
their number in triumph. A small shield in the middle of the left-hand
border contains Holbein’s initials, “H.H.”
VOL. I., PLATE 60.
[Illustration:
MUCIUS SCÆVOLA AND LARS PORSENA
First used in 1516
_From a copy of More’s “Epigrams” in the British Museum_
]
Froben, on the recommendation of Erasmus, undertook the publication of
Sir Thomas More’s _Utopia_ in 1518, and the edition was lavishly
ornamented with woodcuts, title-pages, and initials, in honour of the
author. The book had been already published in Louvain in the winter of
1516. Gerardus Noviomagus, of Nimeguen, writing to Erasmus on November
12th of that year, says that his friend Theodoricus has undertaken to
print it, and that Paludanus will show him “a cut of the island by a
great artist,” in order that Erasmus may make any suggestions he may
think necessary.[441] In Froben’s edition this “cut of the island” was
drawn by Ambrosius Holbein, as also the charming little picture of
Hythlodæus recounting his adventures in Utopia. As already stated, two
of Hans Holbein’s designs were re-used for this work, the title-page
with the children for the dedication to Ægidius, and the “Scævola” for
More’s _Epigrams_, which were added to the volume, together with others
by Erasmus, for which Urs Graf provided a title-page with the beheading
of St. John the Baptist. The title-page to the book itself, with the
story of Tarquin and Lucrece,[442] was designed by Ambrosius, who in
this instance took a much more important share in the work of
illustration than his brother, and he was possibly the “great artist” of
whom Noviomagus spoke in his letter.
[Sidenote: THE TABLE OF CEBES]
The title-page for the Statute Book of Freiburg-im-Breisgau, published
in 1520, with the beautiful design of the patron saints of that city on
the back, has been already described.[443] It is more finely cut than
most of these earlier book illustrations, as is also the title-page
representing the “Table of Cebes” (Pl. 61), perhaps the most important
work of the kind undertaken by Holbein before his connection with
Lützelburger began.[444] The unknown cutter of this block has rendered
Holbein’s design with considerable truth and artistic feeling. It is
founded on the Πιναξ or “Table,” a philosophical work of Cebes of
Thebes, the disciple and friend of Socrates, a book which enjoyed a
great popularity. It gives an allegorical picture of human life, as
explained by an old man to a circle of youths, and is intended to show
that true happiness is only to be attained by the cultivation of the
mind and the possession of real virtue. The “Picture” described in the
book was shown to the sage in a temple of Chronos, and was a painting
containing many figures, representing the progress of man towards the
desired goal. Holbein has followed the text very closely. The whole
picture is surrounded by a wall, which indicates the limits of human
life. Outside this wall, at the bottom of the design, are groups of
naked children, representing the souls of those who have not yet entered
life. They are playing and fighting, and some are begging admittance of
the old man, labelled “Genius,” who stands beneath the archway of the
portal. On the right, within the first courtyard, is the winged, naked
figure of Fortune on her rolling sphere, between two groups of people,
on the one side those on whom she has smiled and on the other the
unfortunate ones, who are railing at her; on the left is the seated
figure of a woman, richly dressed, representing Seduction or Persuasion,
with her attendant ladies as False Opinions. She holds out a gold cup to
tempt the newcomer to life from the true path. Behind, gazing over the
wall into the second courtyard, is the Traveller on life’s journey. He
next encounters Avarice, Lust, Incontinence, and other pitfalls, all
represented by small and characteristic groups of figures. Then, passing
through a gate, he follows a winding road, encountering on the way Pain
and Sorrow, the latter an old woman crouching in a ruined hut, who
threatens him with a whip, until he is welcomed at a further gateway by
Penitence, who holds out both hands in welcome. All danger, however, has
not yet been overtaken, for within he meets with False Discipline, a
grandly dressed lady and her attendants, but he gives her only a
sidelong glance as he hastens forward. The road now becomes rougher and
narrower, and he comes next upon a group of people engaged in the
pursuit of all the arts and sciences, which they regard as the end of
life. After this he has to clamber up steep rocks, which he does with
the help of Fortitude and Courage, the latter holding a golden cup in
either hand. Further on, at the entrance to the innermost enclosure, he
kneels before True Discipline, who, in the guise of a saint, with a
halo, stands on a small pedestal, attended by Truth and Conviction. From
here he enters the Castle of True Happiness, and again kneels, this time
to receive the laurel crown, the reward for his avoidance of all evil
and error on his life’s journey, which is placed on his head by
Happiness, who sits enthroned in the centre, in front of a castellated
building. She wears a crown and holds a sceptre, and her head is
surrounded by a halo of brilliant light. On either side are groups of
the Virtues. Many of the small figures in this design have great charm,
and the whole composition is well arranged and full of interest. Holbein
has signed it on one of the stones of the wall in the lower left-hand
corner with his initials in the form of a monogram, a small H within a
larger one. This woodcut was first used in the edition of Tertullian
published by Froben in 1521, and in the following year it formed the
title-page of Erasmus’ Latin edition of the New Testament. It became
very popular, and was frequently used for dictionaries, lexicons, and
similar publications during the next sixty years, being copied and
imitated by numerous printers.
VOL. I., PLATE 61.
[Illustration:
“THE TABLE OF CEBES”
First used in 1521
_From a copy of Perotto’s “Cornucopiæ” in the British Museum_
]
[Sidenote: LUTHER’S NEW TESTAMENT]
The first fruits of the collaboration of Holbein and Lützelburger
appeared in an edition of Luther’s German translation of the New
Testament, which was issued by Adam Petri in Basel in December 1522. For
this Holbein drew a very beautiful title-page,[445] which, although it
bears no name or initials, is unmistakable in its authorship (Pl. 62).
The sides of the design are occupied with niches within which stand St.
Peter and St. Paul, grandly conceived figures of great nobility and
dignity. St. Peter, on the left, has a great key in one hand, and an
open book in the other, from which, with head and eyes cast down, he is
reading. On the right is St. Paul, with a long, flowing beard, holding a
sword across the open volume of his gospel. The architectural background
is simple, with shell ornamentation behind the heads of the two saints.
In the four corners of the page are the symbols of the four
Evangelists—the Angel, Eagle, Lion, and Bull—which serve as heraldic
supporters to the volumes of the gospels. In the centre at the top are
the arms of Basel, with the motto “INCLYTA BASILEA,” and at the bottom
is placed the printer’s mark, a naked child riding on a harnessed lion,
and bearing a standard with Petri’s monogram, and antedated 1523, the
background filled in with roses, a very fine design. A second edition of
this folio volume was published in March 1523, and at the same time one
in octavo. In the latter the title-page[446] closely follows the one in
the folio edition, and the book is also embellished with other woodcuts
of Holbein’s designing. On the first page of each gospel is a cut of the
figure of the Evangelist enclosed within a framework of Renaissance
design (Pl. 63).[447] The first three are each shown within a room, on
the wall of which is a framed picture illustrating that part of the
career of Christ most fully treated by the respective writers. St.
Matthew looks up from his writing, and listens to the kneeling Angel,
who raises a finger in admonition. The picture on the wall represents
Christ in the manger, with Mary kneeling, and Joseph kindling a fire.
St. Mark is seen from behind, deep in thought, the Lion crouching by his
side. The picture hanging above him is of Christ rising from the Tomb.
St. Luke, busily writing, wears a high cap, the Bull standing at the
back of the desk. Christ on the Cross forms the subject of the picture
on the wall. In each of these three pictures the Evangelist’s desk or
writing-table and seat form an interesting feature, as each one is of a
different design, and illustrates the furniture of Holbein’s own day.
St. John is represented in the wilderness, seated among rocks, writing
his gospel, his candle sheltered from the wind by stones, and the Eagle
looking down upon it. Christ appears in glory in the sky over the
distant mountains, and the saint is gazing up at the vision. This
woodcut is without an ornamental framework. Four other designs by
Holbein are included in the volume.[448] At the head of the Acts of the
Apostles is a representation of the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The
Epistle to the Romans is headed by the figure of St. Paul, preaching,
his sword under his arm, beneath a richly-decorated portal. The other
two represent the Conversion of Saul and St. Peter’s Vision of the
Unclean Beasts, and there are also a number of initial letters (Pl. 63).
The beautiful engraving of the title-page and many of the woodcuts
points to the hand of Lützelburger, though none of them are signed by
him. Another fine woodcut with the figure of St. Paul, with sword and
book, standing within an architectural niche, is to be found in the
Greek New Testament issued by T. Platter of Basel in 1540.[449]
VOL. I., PLATE 62.
[Illustration:
TITLE-PAGE TO LUTHER’S “NEW TESTAMENT”
First used in 1522
_From a copy in the British Museum_
]
VOL. I., PLATE 63.
[Illustration:
THE FOUR EVANGELISTS
Woodcuts, and Initial Letters used on the first page of each gospel,
in the 1523 edition of Luther’s New Testament
S D
_From a copy in the British Museum_
]
[Illustration:
THE FOUR EVANGELISTS
Woodcuts, and Initial Letters used on the first page of each gospel,
in the 1523 edition of Luther’s New Testament
D I
_From a copy in the British Museum_
]
In the same year, 1523, a second Basel publisher, Thomas Wolff, issued a
quarto edition of Luther’s translation of the New Testament, in the
decoration of which both Holbein and Lützelburger were employed. The
title-page[450] shows Holbein’s fertility of invention, his power of
dramatic representation, and his sense of style to the greatest
advantage. In the centre of the upper border St. John is baptizing the
Saviour in the river Jordan, the angel standing on the bank with his
garments, and on either side are the symbols of the four Evangelists.
The lower border contains Wolff’s device, a philosopher in a niche
enjoining silence, his monogram, and the motto, “Digito Compesce
Labellum,” and on either side of it the Vision of St. Peter and the
Conversion of St. Paul, who, dressed in German costume, is flung from
his horse. On the right-hand border St. Paul is shown on the island of
Melita, shaking off the viper from his hand into the fire, and in the
background the wreck of the ship; on the left-hand border is a
representation of the Baptism of the Treasurer of the King of Ethiopia
by St. Philip, while in the distance is depicted the journey of the same
eunuch along a hilly road shaded by trees. He is riding in a small
four-wheeled carriage, drawn by two horses tandem fashion, with the
driver mounted on the after one—one of the methods of travelling in
Holbein’s own day. This title-page is a masterpiece of the engraver’s
art, and is signed “H.L.FVR.” on the footstool on which St. Paul is
kneeling, in the lower border. Holbein also furnished twenty-one
illustrations to the Revelation of St. John for the same edition,[451]
which, however, for the most part were very badly cut, so that
Lützelburger cannot have been the engraver of them. They were used again
in Adam Petri’s folio New Testament of the same year. They are
particularly interesting as representing the same subjects as those
treated by Dürer in his first important work, which must have been known
to Holbein, who, however, has borrowed very little in his rendering of
the Visions. He shows less imagination and grandeur of conception than
Dürer, but follows the text with even closer fidelity, and treats each
subject with greater simplicity and clearness.[452] The last one of the
series, the Angel showing the Saint the New Jerusalem (Pl. 70 (3)),
contains a view of Lucerne with its covered bridge.
[Sidenote: THE “CREATION OF EVE”]
For Adam Petri’s reprint of Luther’s translation of the Old Testament,
published in December 1523, for which a title-page was provided by Urs
Graf, Holbein, in addition to numerous initial letters, was the designer
of the large woodcut which was placed at the head of the first chapter
of Genesis, representing the Creation of Eve,[453] a very beautiful
conception, in which God the Father is uplifting Eve from the side of
Adam, while a small angel tugs at his mantle. The earlier days of the
Creation are also represented—the Earth as a small island with various
animals upon it, surrounded by a strip of water containing fish, and
round this again a ring of clouds and stars, and a final circle of
angels, above whom the Almighty is shown again, blessing his work. In
the four corners are placed the heads of the four winds. Several other
illustrations were drawn by Holbein for this edition, but in most
instances they are marred by bad cutting.
One of the finest of his designs for woodcuts is the one representing
the Death of Cleopatra and the Sacrileges of Dionysius of Syracuse (Pl.
64),[454] first used by Froben in 1523 as the title-page for several
works by Erasmus. The framework, in the form of a sculptured monument in
the Italian style, is exceptional among Holbein’s work as a
book-illustrator, being shown in marked perspective as though seen from
the right. At the foot, beneath an arch, the dying Cleopatra, at full
length on the ground, holds an asp in each hand. On either side is
represented an act of sacrilege on the part of the Tyrant of Syracuse.
On the right he is reaching up to pluck off the golden beard from the
statue of Æsculapius, and on the left he is robbing the statue of
Jupiter of its golden mantle and ornaments. Above the frieze on the top
are Cupids riding on dolphins. The figures throughout are finely
conceived, and the Italian influence is marked.
Another fine title-page of his designing was cut for Bugenhagen’s
_Interpretation of the Psalms_, published by Petri in March 1524, and
afterwards used in Münster’s _Cosmography_, and elsewhere, in which the
principal subject is David dancing before the Ark;[455] and there are
others of which the scope of this book does not permit any description.
Two important woodcuts, “Christ the True Light,” and “The Sale of
Indulgences” (Pl. 65),[456] from their oblong shape were probably
intended to be placed at the head of some broadsheet written by a
supporter of the Reformation. In these designs, in which Lützelburger’s
extraordinary skill in delicate and at the same time forcible use of the
cutter’s knife has rendered with the utmost fidelity the beauty of
Holbein’s line, the artist shows himself to have been in close sympathy
with the new movement, in defence of which he brings to bear
considerable powers of ridicule and satire. The rarity of these two
prints is owing, no doubt, to the fact that the Basel Council maintained
at that time a very severe censorship over all theological
controversies, and strictly prohibited every publication or picture
dealing with such debatable topics. These two woodcuts, therefore,
attacking with merciless scorn the clergy, ecclesiastical abuses, and
superstitions, would come under the ban of the Council, and, at the same
time, every copy falling into the hands of the clerical party would be
destroyed. Hence only three or four copies of each are known.
VOL. I., PLATE 64.
[Illustration:
THE CLEOPATRA TITLE-PAGE
First used in 1523
_From a copy of Erasmus’ “Christiani Matrimonii Institutio” in the
British Museum_
]
VOL. I., PLATE 65.
[Illustration:
1. CHRIST THE TRUE LIGHT
_From proofs in the British Museum_
]
[Illustration:
2. THE SALE OF INDULGENCES
_From proofs in the British Museum_
]
[Sidenote: THE “SALE OF INDULGENCES”]
The “Sale of Indulgences” is divided into two parts. On the right is
shown the interior of a church, with the Pope enthroned, and surrounded
by his cardinals. In the decorations of the building the arms of the
Medici occur many times. Leo X is handing a letter of indulgence to a
kneeling Dominican. In the choir-stalls on either side are seated a
number of Church dignitaries. On the right, one of them rests his hand
on the head of a kneeling youth and with a stick points to a large
iron-bound chest for the money-offerings, into which a woman is putting
her contribution. At a table on the left various Dominicans are
preparing and selling indulgences. One of them repulses a beggar, who
has nothing to give in exchange for the remission of his sins, while
another is carefully checking the money which a suppliant is counting
out on the table, and holding back the letter until the full amount has
been received. The small figures are very lifelike, and the whole
composition is a bitter satire upon the traffic of the Church. The
left-hand half of the picture shows a landscape in which three true
penitents are beseeching forgiveness from God the Father, who appears
with outstretched arms in the clouds above them. Over the head of each
figure is a label inscribed, “K. David,” “Manasses,” and “Offen-Synder,”
respectively. The first-named kneels, with his harp by his side on the
ground; the others stand with clasped hands and bowed heads.
The second sheet, called in the Amerbach inventory “Christus vera lux,
philosophi et papa in foveam cadentes,” is divided into two halves by a
magnificent candlestick which rises in the centre, the flame surmounted
by a large halo of light. The stem contains sculptured figures of the
four Evangelists, and the base is supported by their four symbols. On
the left, Christ, a finely-conceived figure, points to the light with
uplifted hand, and addresses a group of citizens, peasants, beggars, and
other simple folk, who listen eagerly to his words. On the right, a
procession of the clergy and learned men turn their backs upon the true
light, and wander forth into the wilderness, led by Plato and Aristotle,
the first of whom has stumbled into a deep pit, while the second is
about to fall after him. They are followed by the Pope, a bishop,
canons, and other churchmen, and monks of various orders, and a figure
which appears to represent Erasmus. Behind them rise lofty snow
mountains, while a distant city is seen across the plain in the centre,
and trees on the left. This woodcut bears witness to the rapidly growing
change in the point of view of the Reformers, who were already parting
company with their former allies, the humanists and scholars. Holbein in
this design gives expression to the popular feeling of his day in Basel,
which was beginning to regard classical learning with suspicion as a
supporter of the theology to which it was opposed. This woodcut was used
in 1527 to illustrate a large broadsheet, the “Evangelistical Calendar”
of Dr. Johannes Copp.
Holbein’s fertility of invention in this field was not confined to
subjects chosen from the Bible or from classical literature. Numerous
woodcuts occur in which he has made excellent use of incidents taken
from the ordinary life of his day. There is a well-known border
representing a group of peasants chasing a fox which has stolen a goose
from the farmyard, an engraving on metal, which, in spite of the
inferiority of the cutting, is full of humour and rapid movement.[457]
The small figures, carrying flails, spades, and other hastily
snatched-up weapons—among them a girl with a hayrake on her shoulder and
a soldier with his spear—are running at full speed, while behind them an
old man, leaning on a stick, stands among the remaining geese and shouts
directions for the fox’s capture. Another border shows a peasants’
dance,[458] very similar in treatment to the same subject in the
wall-painting of the House of the Dance. These two borders, with two
side ones, representing children climbing trees, were frequently used by
Cratander of Basel in books published between 1526 and 1534, and a
second “Peasants’ Dance”[459] is often found in Adam Petri’s
publications. Similar borders with dancing or playing children
frequently occur. Most of them appear to have been cut in metal by
Faber.
[Sidenote: ALPHABETS WITH PEASANTS & CHILDREN]
Both peasants and children were favourite themes with him in his designs
for initial letters, which formed an important part of the decoration of
the books issued from the Basel presses. He produced a number of
complete alphabets, from A to Z, in which the little pictures which
surrounded the letters formed a connected series of designs. Almost
invariably the letter itself was shown in plain Roman type, placed
within a small square, the background being filled in with small figures
which have no actual connection with the letter, but are so combined
with it as to produce a very decorative effect. One of the most
beautiful of these alphabets, of which complete proof-sheets are to be
found at Basel and Dresden, represents the merry-makings of a rustic
fair,[460] and was used by both Froben and Cratander. The series opens
with two musicians playing bagpipes, and the ten next letters represent
dancing couples. In succeeding letters the peasants are represented
making love, fighting, playing games and practical jokes, drinking, and
other scenes in which the humour is too gross for modern tastes, and
concluding with the return from the fair, the peasant riding home with
his wife behind him, and the visit of the doctor on the following
morning, made necessary by over-indulgence in merry-making. The cutting
of the set is so beautiful that it must be from the hand of
Lützelburger; no other engraver then working in Basel was capable of
such minutely fine work, or could do such full justice to Holbein’s
genius for filling such small spaces with designs which appear so
spacious and so large in style.
Another alphabet, which was evidently also cut by Lützelburger and used
by Cratander, of which there is a proof-sheet at Basel, is devoted to
the games of children.[461] They are represented dancing, playing music,
tilting on hobby-horses, riding on one another’s backs, hair-pulling,
wrestling, and so on, while in one instance a small boy is chasing a cat
with a bird in its mouth. Holbein was always very happy in his treatment
of children, and in this instance, as in the Peasants’ Alphabet, the
delicacy of the execution is wonderful. There are three other alphabets
dealing with children, and portions of others,[462] in one of which they
are engaged in various trades and employments, and appear as carpenters,
millers, masons, fishermen, bakers, painters, doctors, and so on.
Another alphabet gives scenes from the Old Testament,[463] and a second
consists of Greek initials.[464] Other letters, far too numerous to
enumerate here, represent ornaments, flowers, animals, still life, love
scenes, and soldiers. The most famous series of all, however, is the one
known as the “Alphabet of Death,” which is described in the next
chapter.
[Sidenote: WOODCUTS PRODUCED IN ENGLAND]
Holbein also designed a number of marks or devices for the various
printers who employed him, which were used on the first and last pages
of their publications. For Johann Bebelius he drew a palm-tree with a
heavy weight pressing down the branches among which it is placed; in a
second design for the same publisher a naked man is shown beneath this
weight, who attempts with hands and feet to resist the pressure.[465]
Cratander’s trade-mark was Fortune or Opportunity, a naked goddess, with
long flowing hair and winged feet, poised on a revolving ball, a
broad-bladed knife in her hand. Valentine Curio’s device was the Table
of Parrhasius, a hand drawing[466] on a panel one straight line between
two others, enclosed, like the mark of Cratander, within an ornamented
shield. For Thomas Wolff[467] Holbein drew the figure of a scholar or
publisher issuing from a doorway, his finger on his lips enjoining
silence, with the inscription: “Digito compesce labellum.” The devices
of Matthias Bienenvater or Apiarius of Berne and Christopher Froschover
of Zürich, contain punning allusions to their name. The former[468]
represents a bear climbing a tree after honey, with the bees swarming
round him; for the latter[469] Holbein made three different designs,
each one containing frogs. In one the frogs are climbing a tree, with a
beautiful landscape background of hills and peasants’ houses, the whole
within a Renaissance framework, and evidently cut by Lützelburger; in
the two others a boy is represented riding on a large frog, one of them
with a background representing the Lake of Zürich, with villages at the
foot of the mountains, and the other with a hilly landscape with a
castle on a height. Lastly, a very beautiful device made for Reinhold
Wolfe[470] appears to have been produced during Holbein’s last residence
in England, though the cutting of the block was most probably done in
Basel. It represents three boys flinging sticks into an appletree laden
with fruit, and bears his motto “Charitas.”[471] Wolfe, who was settled
in London, was possibly some relation of Thomas Wolff, the Basel
publisher, and so may have sent his book illustrations to Switzerland to
be engraved. This particular device, in any case, is too finely cut to
have been done in England at that period. Wolfe was the publisher of
John Leland’s _Naeniæ_, which contained a woodcut portrait of Sir Thomas
Wyat after Holbein,[472] and also of the same writer’s poem on the birth
of the Prince of Wales, which was not issued until 1543. On the back of
the title-page of the last publication is the device of the Prince, “Ich
Dien” under a crown of ostrich feathers, within a halo, which appears to
be after a design by Holbein.[473] A few other woodcuts which date from
the artist’s last residence in England are referred to in a later
chapter.[474]
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