Holy moly, Steve, that's the "top" of your head? Wow.

On the right, knight stands in a fire; wolf eats lamb.

Steve's comments on Janus are excellent.
I think the inscription reads something like "Pacis in germanicum Martem venia: per Sebastianum Brand defleta".
I am not able to completely translate this, but I think we can identify the left image with Peace (Pax, pacis) and the right image with War (represented by Mars).

The schema in which an image is made of two parts that represent opposites is quite common in ancient art. I am thinking of Amor Sacro Amor Profano by Tiziano, for instance:
http://www.basae.beniculturali.it/openc ... rofano.jpg

Since in this case Peace is on the left and War on the right, I think the subject refers to a time when peace ended and was replaced by war, rather than vice-versa.

Marco

I'm not sure how the two halves are playing off each other, what the authors message is, other than showing the contrasts of Peace (Janus as the keeper of Peace, Mercury as perhaps the flourishing of knowledge or health in peace-time, the musicians as enjoyment, the laborers as productivity...) and War (with Mars all hot and bothered and lots of mayhem). For myself, I've re-imagined the wolf & sheep as doberman & poodle. It just makes more sense in my world.

So the burning knight is Mars?

It's two different landscapes, and not contiguous. Two different kingdoms?

marco wrote: I think the inscription reads something like "Pacis in germanicum Martem venia: per Sebastianum Brand defleta".

Ah, peace unto Germanicii (is brant making a reference to Ovid?) ~ that makes more sense! Paris (duh!)

Nicole wrote:I saw this late but how cool ! Way to go everyone

You can jump in at any time.
You don't have to do them all.
Same goes for anyone else.

R.A. Hendley wrote:Mercury as perhaps the flourishing of knowledge or health in peace-time

I agree with your analysis of the elements of Peace and War, RAH. But I think that Mercury is here mainly as a symbol of the flourishing of commerce, since he is holding a purse which I think is full of money. Still, the presence of this God also suggests the other associations you pointed out.

debra wrote:So the burning knight is Mars?

Yes. Mars is the red planet of fire. From the style of this engraving, for instance the funny Mercury which was promptly recognized by Steve but is far from obvious, I would say it might have been produced in the second half of the XV century: a time when the invention of cannons was recent. So I suspect one of the meanings could be to condemn the invention of cannons as something that contributed to put Peace to an end. I am far from sure about this Cannons appear in the background. Since they are "fire-weapons" they might be somehow related to the "burning" Mars we see in the foreground.

It is interesting to see how this German work compares to Italian works of the same time (e.g. the so-called Mantegna Tarot, 1465). This print is still medieval, while the Mantegna already shows many elements that can be associated to the Renaissance and to a direct knowledge of classical images of the gods.


Who was Sebastian Brant?

From the position in the print, one could think he is the engraver and this is a kind of signature. But I suspect "defleta" means "destroyed", so possibly he is the responsible of the situation we see represented in the right image? I wish I could use a dictionary!

Marco

What is at Mercury's feet? At first I thought "really big wings" but they are ridiculously big for that...

Is it "deflecta"? I was thinking "depicted"...

marco wrote:
Who was Sebastian Brant?

I still think probably the German poet, most famous for his 'Ship of Fools' as I mentioned in my first post, it is he who immediately comes to mind (and led to my misreadin Marte as narre).

debra wrote:What is at Mercury's feet? At first I thought "really big wings" but they are ridiculously big for that...

Is it "deflecta"? I was thinking "depicted"...

I think they are 'ridiculously big wings', they along with the caduceus are how I recognised him as Mercury, when the snakes of the caduceus blow in the wind like ribbons as in this picture it usually empahsises the function of Mercury as herald; but thereagain the purse may be emphasising him as merchant, trade & commerce as mentioned by Marco, RAH.

As to the latin, I was thinking defleta as in 'lament'.

SteveM wrote:

marco wrote:
Who was Sebastian Brant?

I still think probably the German poet, most famous for his 'Ship of Fools' as I mentioned in my first post, it is he who immediately comes to mind (and led to my misreadin Marte as narre).
.....

As to the latin, I was thinking defleta as in 'lament'.

I have checked a dictionary...I guess I have violated the rules
You are right about defleta and I suppose also about Brant. So this print is somehow an illustration of something he wrote.

Marco