(Entrance in the Vordere KarthÄusergasse. Open 10-1 A.M. and 2-4.30 P.M. summer, 2-4 P.M. winter. Fee, 1 mark. Free Sundays, and in winter also on Wednesdays. Sticks, etc., must be left in the entrance hall (10 pfennige). Full catalogue (German) 50 pfennige. Certain sections of the Museum, including the collections of prints, seals, medals, tapestry, records and the Library, are reserved for the use of students and artists. The visitor who wishes to study any of these magnificent collections must apply to the director of the particular department.)

The various sections of the Museum though called after their original architectural purpose—Saal, Halle, Kreuzgang, Kirche, Lichthofgang, etc., are usually numbered consecutively as if they were all rooms of the same type.

The entrance hall leads into the cloisters of the old monastery (walls decorated with Nuremberg heraldry). The first portion of the cloister contains an historical collection of monuments (mostly casts) arranged chronologically.

Ceiling ornamented with the arms of the towns which under the old Empire belonged to princes and bishops. Weapons and implements of the stone age.

Bronze weapons and implements. Coins.

Roman antiquities found in Germany and German antiquities from fourth to tenth centuries. The exquisite German gold and metal-work of the Charlemagne period seems to foreshadow the work of the great Nuremberg goldsmiths.

Latest acquisitions of the Museum.

A very fine collection of characteristic stoves and tiles. The latter, used for covering the walls and floors, took the place of mosaics and are ornamented with leaf-work, stars, rosettes, coats-of-arms or grotesques. The tiles of the stoves, which should be compared with those in the Castle and the Rathaus, were made, in the fifteenth century, to represent chiefly mythological subjects, whilst the seventeenth-century ones betray, as we should expect, Italian influence. A green stove with concave plates (Room 12) and an eighteenth-century rococco specimen (Room 13), from the house of the LÖffelholz family are remarkable.

contain some beautiful examples of the locksmith’s art; locks, keys, hinges, knockers, and knocker plates, exquisite in workmanship and in design. We have here a real lesson in ironwork, a perfect education in hinges.

is the Wilhelms-halle, so-called after Emperor Wilhelm I. It contains a window given by him in 1860, when he was still only King of Prussia. Passing by this and the Hohenzollern-halle opposite and going down the Ludwigsgang, built by the aid of Ludwig of Bavaria (1870) we come to the Reichs-hof, a court (left) in which stands a gigantic cast of the Roland in the market-place of Bremen. Rooms 18-25 are called the Victoria and Friedrich Wilhelm buildings. (More tombs and casts.) On the right of the corridor (Room 26) there now begins a very interesting collection of stained glass which is arranged chronologically. (Twelfth to sixteenth-century glass here.)

The old Refectory of the monks serves now as the home for a collection of German and Italian pottery, majolica and faience, porcelain, glass and stoneware. (German faience, first half of sixteenth century. Augustin Hirschvogel and Nuremberg work, Room 27, cabinets 9 and 16.) Pewter work, end of sixteenth century, by Kaspar Endterlein (Room 28, cabinets 4, 5). English Wedgewood (cabinet 6).

Bronze epitaphs from Nuremberg tombstones (cf. St. John’s Churchyard).

is the old monastic church. It is filled with mediÆval church utensils (ninth to fifteenth century), amongst which we may mention the silver casket in which the Imperial insignia used (p. 51) to be hung in the Spital-kirche, and with 150 original examples of plastic work, carvings and sculptures (thirteenth to sixteenth century). The majority of these have no great artistic merit though they have great interest for the student of German art. They represent the period when painting was not yet regarded as a separate art but as the accessory, the handmaiden of sculpture. In the beginning images of Madonnas and Saints were carved and painted; then, first of all on the wings of altar-pieces, and afterwards throughout, the painter took the place of the carver or sculptor. The process is clearly demonstrated in this collection.

I can only call attention to the following:—Cabinet 6, six apostles in a sitting posture, excellent examples of Nuremberg plastic work (burnt clay) at the end of the fourteenth century.

Over the north-west door St. Anna, Madonna and Child, by Michel Wolgemut (1510?). The Nuremberg landscape background is noteworthy. The picture has the appearance of having been recently retouched. Various works of the Nuremberg School and the Pacher School of carving (late fifteenth century), are ranged along the south and north walls. The large fresco Visit of Emperor Otho III. to the tomb of Charlemagne, is by W. von Kaulbach, and was bequeathed by that painter to the Museum. But the gem of the whole collection is the

It stands at the back of an early sixteenth-century altar-piece of the Swabian School, facing the tombstone (1592) of Georg Ludwig von Seinsheim. No second glance is required to assure us that we have here not only the chef d’Æuvre of

Nuremberg carving, but also one of the works of art of all time. And yet the name of the master is unknown, and the very date of the work is a matter of dispute. Clearly the beautiful female figure of this sorrowing Mary, this praying Madonna, as she is called (trauende, betende Maria), once formed one of a group, and stood facing St. John at the foot of the Cross, gazing upwards in that bitter grief which is beyond the expression and abandonment of tears. Who can that artist have been who could select that pose of the head, that poise of the limbs, who could carve those robes, which in purity and flow have never been surpassed in German art, and who could express in the suppliant hands such poignant emotion? Man weiss nicht! And whose touch was so delicate, that with his chisel he could stamp on the upturned face those mingled feelings of sorrow so supreme, yearning so intense, love so human, hope so divine? For all this we can read there still, even through the grey-green coat of paint which certainly had no place in the original intentions of the artist. Man weiss nicht! But this much one may hazard—that it was some German artist, touched by the spirit of the Italian Renaissance till he rose to heights of artistic performance elsewhere never attained by him, and scarcely ever approached by his fellows.[67]

At the end of the choir is the High Altar-piece from Hersbruck, with figures of Mary and the four Fathers of the Church, from the workshop of Wolgemut, who painted the wings once attached to it. This is a good example of Nuremberg work of the kind, with its good and bad points, towards the end of the fifteenth century. On the reverse of this altar-piece is a sadly-faded church banner, richly painted. Figures of Christ, SS. Peter, and Sebald, in a rich Renaissance border, attributed to Albert Durer.

is the old Sacristy on the north side of the church. There are several interesting carvings here, chief of which is the ROSARY (Rosenkranztafel), Judgment-scene, and crowning of Mary, attributed to Veit Stoss. Amongst other important works attributed to, or actually by him, is the frame of Durer’s great Allerheiligen picture (see p. 193).

There is also here the original wood model of Labenwolf’s familiar “Gooseman” fountain, and a picture of a meeting of the Meistersingers (with Hans Sachs). Winding steps lead up from this chapel to the Volkamer Chapel above.

is the chapel on the south side of the church. Church utensils, etc., and in the choir arch an iron painted chandelier, dedicated by the son of Martin Behaim, the navigator, in memory of his father.

MediÆval furniture, household articles, beds, and doors with splendid ironwork and hinges. Turn (left) down corridor 26 till you come to (right)

The coloured portal is a remarkable piece of late romanesque work, and was once the doorway of the Refectory of the monastery at Heilsbronn. More stoves and furniture.

Carved woodwork. Room 45, cabinets and tapestry. Goldsmiths’ works. Magnificent bedstead of ebony and alabaster (Nuremberg). Turn (left) down corridors 46-48. Historical collection of tombs and stained glass continued.

Guns and weapons from eleventh century. Chased armour.

Costumes. Heraldic ceiling.

Hence down the open spiral staircase, past the bear-pit, to

Cannons, fourteenth to nineteenth century.

Torture instruments and guillotine (end of eighteenth century).

From this point a small staircase in the corner of the cloisters (Room 55) leads to Room 56, containing some interesting examples of early book-bindings. Passing through this room, and turning to the left, we arrive at

where we have before our eyes the development of manuscripts, engraving and printing from the beginning of the eighth century. The first room contains many documents and charters, manuscripts, autographs, and illuminations. Besides these there are many sketches, architectural drawings and designs, chiefly heraldic, for works of art. Here, too, is a noticeable collection of wood-engravings, including many fine leaves by Durer (Apocalypse, Passions, Life of Mary), Lucas Cranach, Hans Burgkmair, Grien, SchÄuffelein, etc., and of copper-engravings[68] by Durer, Lucas van Leyden, Aldegrever, Altdorfer, Augustin Hirschvogel, etc.

In the next room we enter the region of printed books, and find a well-arranged and delightful collection. In case i., among other examples of the early “Block books” (books printed wholly from carved blocks of wood, from which undoubtedly the idea of moveable type arose), we note the Ars Moriendi and the Kalendar of Ludwig von Basel (1460?). Of Block books at Nuremberg, we may note that Hans Sporer produced here an edition of the Endkrist (1472), of the Ars Moriendi, 1473, and of the Biblia Pauperum (1475).

The first two books to be printed from moveable type were two Latin Bibles (circ. 1453). Of these, one is known as the thirty-six line, or Bamberg Bible. It was printed by Gutenberg, and is represented in the Museum by two leaves only (case i.). The other is known as the Forty-two line, or Mazarine Bible. It was printed by Gutenberg, in partnership with Fust and SchÖffer, and is represented here by one leaf (case ii.). One leaf, too, is all there is here to tell of the 1457 Psalter, with the wonderful capital letters printed by Fust and SchÖffer. The extraordinary beauty and perfection of printing in its infancy can never fail to arrest attention. The explanation is obvious. It was not till the scribes, with whom printers had at first to compete in the multiplication of books, had ceased to exist that printers could afford to be careless in their work and indifferent in their choice of types.

Then there are the three books ascribed to Gutenberg’s press about the year 1460—

The Catholicon type appears again in the Latin-German dictionary known as the Vocabularius ex quo, the second edition of which, published by Nikolaus BechtermÜnze at Eltvil, is here represented.

Copies of the first fourteen German Bibles (1466, etc.), with the exception of the second and seventh, will be found in the various cases (iv., v., vii., ix., etc.), and the original editions of Luther’s Bible (1523-4) and other writings of his in case xxii. The first German Bible to be printed in Nuremberg (actually the fourth German Bible) was published by Frisner and Sensenschmid, 1473(?), case vii. Illustrations, it will be observed, are introduced into the large initial letters. It was Johann Sensenschmid (“the type-cutter”) who, with the aid of Heinrich Keffer of Mainz, a pupil of Gutenberg, first introduced the art of printing into the town (Franciscus de Retza, Comestorium vitiorium, 1470, case vii.). Then in 1471 Johann MÜller, or Regiomontanus, as he called himself, came with the object of establishing a private printing press, in order to issue his own works here. He printed his German and Latin Calendar from blocks, and various mathematical works from moveable types. But Anton Koberger[69] (1473-1513) was the greatest printer of Nuremberg. To the zeal with which he produced woodcut illustrations for his great works, the Schatzbehalter and the Hartmann Schedels Weltchronik (cases xiii., xiv.), the growth of the Nuremberg school of engraving is due. Another famous Nuremberg printer closely connected in business with Koberger[70] was Friedrich Creussner, who printed the first German edition of “Marcho Polo, das puch von mangerley wunder der landt vnd lewt” in 1477 (case xii.). In case xix. we find a unique copy of Hans Schmuttermeyer von NÜrnberg, FialenbÜchlein, and also the NÜrnberger HeiligtumsbÜchlein, published by Hans Mair, 1493. The Quatuor libri amorum of Conrad Celtes, poet and humanist, was published at Nuremberg, 1502, with woodcuts after Durer (case xxi.). Durer’s writings on the Proportions of the Human Frame, on Perspective, Measurements and Fortification figure in case xxiii., in which also the large coloured woodcuts of the “Abbildung der dreiundzwanzig vom schwÄbischen Bunde im Jahre 1523 verbrannten frÄnkischen RaubschlÖsser,” published at Nuremberg by Hans Wandereisen, are conspicuous. To Nuremberg also was vouchsafed the honour of publishing Melchior Pfinzing’s Theuerdank (1517),[71] although it would appear to have been printed by Hans SchÖnsperger at Augsburg from the handsome type (scarcely improved by the tremendous flourishes) specially cut by Jost Dienecker of Antwerp. It was adorned with over a hundred illustrations—hunting scenes and knightly conflicts—by Hans SchÄuffelein, Burgkmair and others. A copy of the second, 1519, edition may be seen in case xxii.

After the death of Koberger, illustrated books in Nuremberg came chiefly from the presses of Jobst Gutknecht and Peypus. Other printers here were:—

• Conrad Zeninger, 1480-1482.
• Fratres VitÆ Communis, 1479-1491.
• Georg Stuchs, 1484-1515.
• Johann Petrejus, 1526-1550.
• Alexander Kaufmann (Greek types).
• Konrad Bauer, 1601. Polyglot Bible.
• Leonhard Heussler, 1596. Joachim Lochner’s Chronicle.
• Endter, 1668. Fugger’s Österreichischer Ehrenspiegel (case xxviii.).

In this case also is Grimmelshausen’s Simplicissimus (Nuremberg, 1685). In the next case (xxix.) is a copy of the pamphlet “Deutschland in seiner tiefen Erniederung,” 1806, which occasioned the execution of the publisher Palm (see p. 269), “who fell a victim to the tyranny of Napoleon.”

Near this case are two old printing presses, and in case xxx. are the bust, some manuscripts, and the collected works of Hans Sachs the cobbler-poet.

Ship models, etc.

Old weights and scales.

Scientific instruments, dials, early watches and watch-cocks. Durer’s Reissfeder. Regiomontanus’ astronomical instruments.

Old drugs and drug-stores, etc. The old apothecary’s shop, decorated with crocodiles and so forth, suggests the familiar scene in Romeo and Juliet.

Technical models, globes, maps, etc.

Banners of old Nuremberg guilds, signs of inns, trade-marks, etc.

Early Nuremberg toys, dolls’ houses, etc. We now come to the

which, if not of great size or of first-rate importance, is eminently interesting to those who care to study the development of Nuremberg art. The pictures are unfortunately numbered and arranged in a somewhat eccentric fashion.

In the small room on the right, as we enter Room 71, are some early pictures which would seem to be the forerunners of the system of epitaphs which obtained so largely in the later Middle Ages. Besides these there are two Byzantine pictures.

The first two sections of Room 71 are taken up with some examples of the Rhenish and old Netherland School up to the end of the sixteenth century.

To Meister Wilhelm of Cologne is attributed the charming Madonna with the pea-blossom (No. 7). Of the same school are Nos. 9, 10, and 17.

Stephan Lockner, Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

Rogier van der Weyden (copy), No. 20.

Hugo van der Goes. Cardinal Bourbon. No. 19.

The “Master of the Life of Mary.” Nos. 24, 25, 26.

Jan Scorel. Two portraits. Nos. 50, 51.

The “Master of the Death of Mary.” Nos. 63, 64, 65.

Bartholomew Bruyns. No. 72.

With the third section of this room begins the collection of Franconian and Nuremberg paintings. As I have already on more than one occasion sketched the characteristics of this school, it would be superfluous to add anything here. But perhaps one may be allowed to express the conviction that no one who studies these pictures will fail to be impressed by the comparative merits of Wolgemut, or go away without ranking the master of Durer higher in his estimation than he was wont to do before he came.

The scenes from the Passion (No. 87), 1400, may be taken to represent the beginnings of the Franconian School of painting. No. 96 is the reverse of that Imhoff altar-piece in the Lorenzkirche with which we have already dealt at some length (p. 249). No. 95—from the Frauenkirche—is an important picture of the same date (1430-40).

The workshop of Pleydenwurff and Wolgemut is very well represented here. The admirable portrait of Kanonikus SchÖnborn (101), whose figure appears again in the Crucifixion (100) painted for him by the master, and SS. Thomas Aquinas and Dominicus (102, 103) are good examples of Hans Pleydenwurff at his best. Of the numerous pictures by Michel Wolgemut it will suffice to mention in particular the two portraits of old men so full of individuality (Hans Perckmeister and another, 119, 119A), and the Hallersche Epitaph (115), besides his masterpiece, the

(107-110, Room 73; 113 and 114, Room 71, SS. Cosmos Damian, Magdalena, and Lucia). We have seen how Wolgemut usually allowed his assistants to help him in his pictures. The PeringsdÖrffer masterpiece (1488) was no exception; but in this at any rate the master’s own share was very considerable.

The outer sides of the altar contain four pairs of Saints, male and female, standing on Gothic brackets—SS. Catherine and Barbara, Rosalia and Margaret, George and Sebald, John the Baptist and Nicholas. Here we have the most animated of Wolgemut’s female figures, the most vigorous and life-like of his men. The most notable faces,—finer even than that of the St. Sebald who stands like some great architect holding the model of his Church, or of the St. Nicholas, with his refined and critical countenance, are those of SS. John and George. The former turns upon us his keen and spiritual gaze, so that his great brown eyes seem to pierce the veil that bounds our earthly vision and to penetrate into the hidden depths of futurity; whilst the latter stands rigid, his every feature—powerful nose, firmly closed mouth, thin but not sunken cheeks—eloquent of a bold and earnest resolution.

Incidents from the life of St. Vitus (Veit) and other saints form the subjects of the inner sides of the picture. Here again there is an inequality both of style and of excellence. The simple countenance of Mary, who holds on her knee a very animated Child, represents a type halfway between that of Rogier and that of Schongauer. The St. Luke, the character of whose head is well worked out, is attractive through his expression of earnestness. But there is far more dramatic power and “soul” in the scene from the legend of St. Bernard, according to which Christ came down from the Cross to his ardent worshipper. There the countenance of St. Bernard is made to exhibit a depth of feeling rarely to be found in Wolgemut; as if the artist’s imagination had indeed been lit by something of the glow of the Saint’s adoration.

The St. Christopher, who is walking through the stream with the Christ-child on his shoulder, is rough to the point of ugliness, whilst in the landscape, which is beautifully executed, there is a most intimate charm.

In the martyrdom of St. Sebastian, the Saint wears that almost inane expression which often does duty, however unintentionally, for the look of deep suffering in Wolgemut’s work. The guard, however, are pleasingly and vividly portrayed. Evidently they are akin to the rabble which is found in the scenes of the Passion in Schongauer’s works.

But it is when we come to the scenes from the legend of St. Vitus that we seem to trace only the faintest signs of Wolgemut’s style. The composition here bears only a distant resemblance to his, and in the execution the assistant employed must surely have been he who painted the scene of St. Vitus denouncing the idols in the Lorenzkirche (see p. 254), and whose initials are R. F.

The pictures by Albrecht Durer in the Museum we have already mentioned (pp. 188, 193-9).

Besides these originals there are several copies of the master’s works, including the excellent copies of the Four Apostles (283, 284) by Johann Georg Fischer. The original inscriptions are retained. The Allerheiligen or Trinity picture, No. 210, is a bad copy in a worse frame.

Among other works by contemporaries or followers of Durer are:—

In the following rooms the decline of German art is historically well represented. But in room 78, which is devoted mainly to painters of the Dutch School of the seventeenth century, mention should be made of the interior by Peter de Hooch (330) and an early portrait of Rembrandt by himself (325) and his powerful St. Paul (326). Johann Kupetzky is also well represented (371-378).