2. THE AMBASSADORS OF THE SAMNITES BEFORE CURIUS DENTATUS

1521-22 Fragment of the wall-painting formerly in the Basel Town Hall BASEL GALLERY ] [Sidenote: LEGEND OF THE INN “ZUR BLUME”] In the collection of drawings in the Louvre there is an elaborately drawn design for the decoration of a house with a narrow frontage and high-pitched gables,[272] which, although not from Holbein’s own hand, bears considerable resemblance to his style and methods in carrying out large mural paintings. It may be a contemporary copy of one of his designs, or, perhaps, an original work by one of the clever Basel artists who adopted his manner. The architectural details, however, are characterised by a fantastic play of fancy carried beyond the limits Holbein usually prescribed for himself in work of this nature. Some of them are frankly impossible, and if actually carried out in brick or stone would at once fall to pieces. This element of architectural absurdity is to be seen very clearly in the large capital in the centre supported by a much weaker and smaller one, in the curious thin bands of projecting stonework with circular openings through which all the columns pass, and the equally curious circular vaulting over the door, with round openings through which two cupids bend down in the act of supporting a coat of arms. The principal features of the design are two deep bands divided by the columns into panels containing combats between sirens and grotesque men with fish-like extremities ending in spirals of foliage. On either side of the windows of the second floor double columns are set close together, between which three nude old men are striving to force themselves. On the topmost storey two figures are looking over a balcony in front of two small windows. Medallions with antique heads are freely introduced, and every part of the house-face is so lavishly covered with small ornamentation that the eye becomes confused, and the general effect produced is one of restlessness and over-elaboration. Below the ground-floor window a fictitious opening is shown, in which two large dogs are fighting over a bone. Woltmann suggests that a passage in Dr. Ludwig Iselin’s notes has reference to these two animals, and may be taken as some indication that this particular design for house-decoration was Holbein’s own, and had been carried out by him in Basel. Iselin says, in speaking of the artist’s truthfulness to nature: “He painted a dog, at which dogs running past used to bark.”[273] [Sidenote: LEGEND OF THE INN “ZUR BLUME”] An old Basel legend, which, like so many other legends, has no evidence to support it, connects Holbein’s name with the decoration of another house in Basel—the inn “zur Blume” in the Fischmarktplatz. The story runs that the painter was deeply in debt to the innkeeper, and in order to pay his dues he undertook to cover the outside of the house with frescoes; but the work progressed too slowly for the owner, and Holbein’s absences in search of enjoyment were too frequent, so that the former kept a close watch upon him, and threatened to cut off supplies unless he remained at his post. The painter’s ingenuity, however, was equal to the emergency. When he was at work high up on the building his body was hidden from the view of those in the street by the scaffolding, but his legs were still in sight, so he painted a fictitious pair on the wall, as though dangling down, with feet crossed; and seeing these, the landlord thought all was well, and so left his artist to his own devices. The most important work in wall-painting undertaken by him at this period was the decoration of the Council Chamber in the newly-rebuilt Town Hall or Rathaus of Basel. In 1504 it was decided to replace the old building with a new one, and the work was begun in 1508 and completed early in 1521, the Council assembling in it for the first time on the 12th of March in the latter year. The decoration of the interior walls of the chief room was given to Holbein, partly, no doubt, through the influence of his patron, Jakob Meyer, who was still burgomaster, though his troubles were already beginning, and culminated before the close of that year, when he was removed from office. The commission must have been mainly due, however, to the Council’s knowledge of Holbein’s skill and inventive powers in this branch of art, as shown in the decorations of several house-fronts in the city. The painter continued his work in the Chamber after the deposition of Jakob Meyer and the election of Adelberg Meyer, who was unrelated to his predecessor, to the post of chief magistrate. According to the account books of the Council, the commission was given to the painter on the 15th June 1521, on the day of St. Veit and St. Modestus, and the contract stated that he was to receive 120 gulden for the whole work, and that he was to be paid in advance by the “Drei Herrn,” who were the members of the Council who controlled the finances, on the day of the signing of the contract, forty gulden, or fifty Basel pounds, the gulden being equal to one Basel pound and a quarter.[274] The remaining payments, in smaller amounts, were made to him on the 20th July and 14th September 1521, and on the 12th April, 16th June, 31st August and 29th November 1522. He received no money during the winter of 1521-22, when the work, no doubt, would be temporarily suspended owing to the shortness of the days and the lack of good light. This is one of the few instances in which we possess authentic records of the amounts received by Holbein for his work. [Sidenote: WALL-PAINTINGS IN BASEL TOWN HALL] The Town Hall, which stood in the market-place, with the house of Jakob Meyer, “zum Hasen,” adjoining it on the south, has undergone considerable changes since its building, so that to-day both the exterior and interior are by no means in the same condition as when Holbein was working there. In those days the Council Chamber was an irregular quadrangle, about 34 feet by 65 feet, and only 12½ feet high, and the ceiling was supported by three columns down the centre of the room. The wall fronting the market-place was entirely filled with large windows and the doors leading to the chief staircase, and provided no space for decorative treatment, so that Holbein’s work was confined to the three remaining walls, the long one opposite, which was also broken up by two windows and two doors, and the two narrower ones at either end, which were not parallel. Of these latter, the one on the north had a heating chamber and a large stove at one end of it, and was separated from the rest of the hall by a balustrade. The only unbroken wall was at the southern end, next Meyer’s house. It was called in the accounts the “back wall,” because the visitor turned his back on it on entering the room, and this wall was not decorated by Holbein until after his return from his first visit to England. Taking it altogether, the room was so low and so irregular in its arrangement that it was by no means well suited for carrying out a scheme of mural decoration on a monumental scale; but Holbein triumphed over all difficulties, and produced magnificent results, so far as can be judged from the few studies, tracings, and copies which remain. The subjects selected for representation were divided from one another by richly-ornamented Renaissance columns, so that the room, when finished, appeared to be open on all sides, here looking out upon some landscape, and there into some great hall or palace made to appear vast by the clever use of perspective. Between the principal pictures were placed smaller, single-figure subjects, standing in niches on a somewhat higher level, and forming part of the architectural framework. The subjects of the larger paintings were of the kind then popular north of the Rhine, and were intended, by means of celebrated examples taken from ancient history, to bring home to those who used the room, the absolute necessity of impartial justice in the administration of the affairs of a state or community, and at the same time to indicate the punishment which in most cases is bound to follow the breaking of the law, and to extol the virtues of simplicity and a love of country free from all self-seeking. These subjects, and the Latin inscriptions which accompanied them, were not Holbein’s own invention, but were, in all probability, selected for him by such learned friends as Myconius and Beatus Rhenanus.[275] The only records which remain of this great work, all of which are in the Basel Gallery, consist of a few fragments taken from the walls before the last traces of the paintings had finally faded away; original studies for three of the chief subjects from Holbein’s own hand; a few contemporary copies of his designs; and others taken from those parts of the design which could still be discerned at the time when the actual fragments of Holbein’s handiwork were cut away from the walls. Unfortunately the paintings themselves had but a short life. Less than fifty years after the last one was completed they were already in a deplorable condition, largely through damp. Probably the three months’ interval which elapsed between the completion of the building and the beginning of its decoration was due to the desire to allow the walls to become thoroughly dry; but even this precaution was not sufficient to save Holbein’s handiwork from gradual destruction. The walls, possibly from faulty construction, appear never to have become entirely free from moisture, while the paintings were also allowed to suffer from general neglect. Wurstisen in his _Epitome Historiæ Basiliensis_, published in 1577,[276] speaks of them as “delineations of the choicest things by the hand of the German Apelles,” but two years later the largest of them was reported to be so terribly injured by the weather that it was in danger of complete destruction. The Council, therefore, commissioned the painter Hans Bock to make a copy of it in oils on canvas, which, when completed, was hung on the wall in front of the original painting. This “large piece,” which Bock copied in 1579, was probably the whole of the back wall, containing the “Rehoboam” and the “Samuel and Saul.” This work occupied his whole time for twenty-six weeks, and his application for payment for this half-year’s work, dated the 23rd November 1579, to be found among the Basel archives. In it he demands one hundred florins, a sum which the Council evidently considered too great, although it works out at little more than a shilling a day in modern money, a moderate but not a contemptible wage as rates of payment went in those days. Among the reasons Bock gives for asking so much is that far more is really due to a copyist, who has to imitate laboriously the work of another, than to one who paints merely from his own fancy; and he goes on to say that, “among all the Holbein pieces in the painted hall, this is not only the greatest in length, but also contains the most difficult and laborious work, as, besides landscape, there are one hundred faces drawn perfectly or partially, so that I must copy them all piece by piece, besides many horses, weapons, and other things.”[277] The details he mentions were only to be found in one of the paintings, that of “Samuel and Saul,” though it did not contain nearly one hundred heads, but with the adjoining picture of “Rehoboam,” which Bock probably included, the number would be nearly correct. [Sidenote: DESTRUCTION OF THE WALL-PAINTINGS] One hundred years later the wall-paintings were still to be seen, though rapidly deteriorating. They are mentioned by Tonjola (1661), who quotes the various inscriptions which accompanied them,[278] and by Patin (1676), who speaks of the three walls of this hall as painted by Holbein. After this all traces of them were gradually lost, damp and neglect almost obliterating them. They were no longer visible in 1796, for Peter Ochs does not mention them in his description of the Council Chamber.[279] Even Bock’s copy seems to have fallen to pieces, and in the end the walls were covered with tapestry hangings, and Holbein’s work was completely forgotten. In 1817, however, when some repairs were carried out in the hall, necessitating the removal of the tapestries, a few remaining traces of the original work were discovered. On the fresco of “Charondas,” on the north wall, the date 1521 was still legible. Seven fragments of considerable size were saved, from the three paintings of “Rehoboam,” “Curius Dentatus,” and “Zaleucus,” and small copies of the chief remains were made in water-colours by Hieronymus Hess for the art firm of Birmann, and these are now preserved in the Basel Gallery (Nos. 328-332). From such inadequate materials as these it is possible to obtain only a very general idea of the original beauty of this great undertaking. It would be supposed that these mural decorations, painted as they were on interior walls, would have long outlived Holbein’s work of a similar nature on the exterior façades of Hertenstein’s mansion and the House of the Dance, whereas the contrary was the case, for in both the last-named instances the paintings remained in fairly good condition until comparatively modern times. This indicates that the cause of the rapid destruction of the Town Hall decorations was not owing to Holbein’s lack of knowledge of the proper methods of fresco painting, but was due solely to bad building on the part of the Council’s architect, and, later on, to neglect at the hands of the authorities, who made no adequate attempt to preserve works which added so great a distinction to their building. The four chief subjects painted by Holbein in 1521-22 were—(1) Charondas of Catanea, the law-giver of the city of the Thurii, who had issued a decree forbidding the wearing of arms in the public assembly under pain of death, but himself inadvertently broke the law. Hurrying to the council chamber from a journey, he forgot to leave his weapons behind him; and on attention being called to this by one of his enemies, he immediately cried out, “By Zeus! the law shall be master,” and ran himself through with his sword. (2) Zaleucus of Locris, whose laws punished adultery by the loss of both eyes. His only son was found guilty of this crime, but the people begged him to show mercy, as the culprit was his heir, and their future ruler. Zaleucus resisted their entreaties for a long time, but in the end yielded to the extent of sacrificing one of his own eyes, and ordering only one of his son’s to be removed, thus upholding the majesty of the law. (3) Curius Dentatus, who, kneeling before his fire, preparing his modest meal, sends away the ambassadors of the Samnites, who have come with rich presents in order to persuade him to take no part in the war against them. (4) Sapor, king of Persia, who is making use of the body of the captive emperor Valerian as a step from which to mount his horse. Between these pictures were placed single figures of Christ, King David with the harp, Justice, Wisdom, and Temperance. The remaining large subjects, which were painted in 1530-31, were Rehoboam spurning the Elders of Israel, Saul rebuked by Samuel, and possibly Hezekiah breaking the Idols. In the picture of “Charondas” the action takes place in a lofty hall, its roof supported by richly-decorated columns, with long architraves covered with bands of sculptured figures and medallions. Charondas stands in front of the councillors in the act of plunging his sword into his breast, as with uplifted eyes he calls the gods to witness that he is prepared at all costs to uphold the laws. Some of the onlookers sit spell-bound, too overcome with surprise and agitation to attempt to stay his hand, while others are still disputing among themselves as to the necessity or justice of so severe a punishment for so trivial a fault. This is one of the frescoes which Hess copied in 1817,[280] and the Basel Gallery also possesses a contemporary copy of Holbein’s original design,[281] which was probably made by some pupil or assistant attached to his own workshop. When the two are compared, it becomes apparent that Holbein, when he came to paint the subject upon the wall, added considerably to its length. Hess’s copy is almost twice as long as it is high, and on either side three or four figures have been added to the group of councillors which do not appear in the copy of the first design, which is almost square in its proportions, and corresponds in size with Holbein’s original design for the “Sapor” subject.[282] [Sidenote: “THE BLINDING OF ZALEUCUS”] In the “Zaleucus” the scene is laid in a great chamber with a large arched opening at one end, through which can be seen the outer walls of the palace and other Renaissance buildings illuminated by sunshine. The blinding of the two men is depicted with great realism. The son falls back in his chair, with open mouth and a look of terror on his face as the executioner prepares to tear out his left eye. Opposite to him his father, crowned, in princely robes, an aged man, with long silvery beard, sits in his chair of state, placed in front of heavy tapestry hangings, freely offering himself to the torture. Holbein has very skilfully marked the contrast between the abject fear of the culprit, who appears about to scream aloud, and the old man, who makes ready to meet the sharp pain with dignified restraint, and only displays his feelings in the way in which he grips the arms of his throne. In the case of the son, the executioner, dressed in the body armour of a Roman soldier, is using considerable violence; in that of the father, he is first examining the eye with a lens in order that he may remove it with as little pain as possible. This severe object-lesson in the majesty of the law is witnessed by a great crowd of spectators, all clad in togas, who regard the scene with contending emotions of horror and compassion. Two fragments of the original painting are still preserved at Basel—the head of Zaleucus (No. 331), and that of one of the spectators (No. 332). Of this fresco also there is a water-colour copy at Basel made by Hess from the almost obliterated original,[283] and a sixteenth-century copy of Holbein’s design for it.[284] In this case the two copies agree in their proportions, and indicate that the painting was one of the smaller of the chief subjects with which the room was decorated. According to Dr. Ganz, three other old copies of this wall-painting exist, one by H. R. Manuel in a private collection in France, one by J. Wentz, done in 1551, now in the Basel Collection, and the third in a glass painting of 1580.[285] Of the picture of “Curius Dentatus” no record remains beyond the water-colour copy made by Hess in 1817,[286] and a fragment of the painting itself in a bad state of preservation, showing the heads of the three foremost of the five Samnite ambassadors (No. 330) (Pl. 40 (2)).[287] From Hess’s copy it is to be gathered that this composition must have been an exceptionally fine one, though one of the smallest of the series. The characters are placed under an open portico with round arches through which a wide expanse of country is seen. There is a tall tree in the foreground, and in the distance buildings and a bridge over a river, and a lofty mountain. Curius, dressed in Roman armour, is kneeling in front of his open hearth, cooking his evening repast, and looking round, without rising, at the five ambassadors, who are attired in rich Renaissance dress, and bear golden vessels and a large dish full of gold. Curius, refusing their bribes, points to the turnips he is cooking, and exclaims: “Malo hæc in fictilibus meis esse et aurum habentibus imperare” (“I would rather have these in my pot and rule over those who have gold”). These words were painted over the picture itself. Each one of the larger compositions, as well as the single figures, had similar painted inscriptions in Latin, and other admonitory couplets were placed upon the walls, the text of all of them being given by Tonjola in his _Basilea Sepulta._ The hall in which Curius is receiving the Samnites fills the upper half of the fresco, and is supported on masonry which occupies the lower half, in which is seen the opening to a vaulted chamber or cellar, in front of which stands an armed man, possibly intended to represent the messenger of the Basel Town Council, as he is dressed in the black-and-white armorial colours of the city, and wears a small badge with the city’s coat of arms fastened to his shoulder. His right hand is raised to his feathered hat as though he were about to salute the spectator. This picture was intended to glorify republican simplicity, and may have had reference also to the burning question of the “French pensions,” which helped to bring about Jakob Meyer’s downfall.[288] [Sidenote: “SAPOR AND VALERIAN”] Of the fourth picture, “Sapor and Valerian,” the only record remaining is the beautiful design at Basel from Holbein’s own hand (Pl. 41).[289] The drawing is lightly washed with water-colour, chiefly red in the faces and the brickwork of the architectural background, and blue and grey in other parts. This picture was one of the narrower ones, and the space was crowded with figures. In the centre, the aged Emperor, crowned, and with a long white beard, kneels on the ground resting on his outspread hands, his body pressed down by the weight of Sapor, who places one foot on his back as he prepares to mount his horse. The latter, like all the other figures, is dressed in the costume of Holbein’s own day, with a long sword and a gold chain across his shoulders. The horse is held by a foot-soldier, in a blue cloak, who looks over his shoulder towards the spectator. The space behind the central group is filled with soldiers, mounted and on foot. The knights, some of whom are in full armour, carry long lances over their shoulders, which add to the effect of the scene, while the men on foot hold aloft great pikes. The mounted knight near the centre, with plumes all round his broad hat, is a noble and dignified figure, and the drawing of Sapor’s horse is excellent. The procession comes along the street from the right, and passes round the corner of the building, which fills in the background, as in several of the earlier “Cross-Bearing” pictures. This building, which is seen from an angle, with deep arched arcading below and a row of windows above, is a representation of the recently-finished Town Hall of Basel, within which the wall-painting itself was placed, and the quaint building next to it, with its battlemented cresting seen against the blue sky, is to be found marked on Matthaeus Merian’s plan of the city (1615). It was in reality separated by two other houses from the Rathaus, but Holbein, attracted no doubt by its picturesqueness, has moved it nearer. Over Sapor’s head is a large ribbon label inscribed “Sapor Rex Persar,” and below the Emperor is written “Valerianus Imp.” On either side are shown the pillars which divided the chief compositions from each other; flat columns, the upper half covered with carving of Renaissance design, and the lower with slabs of coloured marbles and a circular medallion containing an antique head such as is to be found in almost all Holbein’s architectural drawings. An inscription at the foot, which runs, “Hans Conradt Wolleb schanckts Mathis Holzwartenn,” gives the names of two consecutive owners of this drawing. Wolleb, who was Magistrate of Basel, died on September 9, 1571. On August 6th of that year the Alsatian poet, Matthias Holzwart, permitted a performance of his play, _King Saul and the Shepherd David_, to be given in the Basel market-place, and Wolleb may have presented the drawing to him at that time in recognition of the event. The same border also contains the letters A.V.E. in a monogram, probably the initials of a third owner of the design.[290] VOL. I., PLATE 41. [Illustration: SAPOR AND VALERIAN Design for one of the wall-paintings in the Basel Town Hall _Pen and water-colour drawing_ BASEL GALLERY ] [Sidenote: COMPLETION OF TWO OF THE WALLS] The five single figures in painted niches which filled in the smaller spaces on the walls had each an appropriate inscription in Latin. The Basel Gallery possesses copies of Holbein’s preliminary studies for each one of them, which, like the similar copies of the Charondas and Zaleucus designs, are drawn on paper made in Basel with a water-mark which was not used after 1524, thus showing that they must be contemporary, and, as already suggested, very possibly done by some one in Holbein’s own studio.[291] Christ[292] is represented holding a long tablet with the words: “Quod tibi non vis fieri alteri non facias” (“What thou dost not wish to be done to thee, that do to no other”). In the band of ornament at his feet is a small tablet with the date 1523. King David[293] is shown with his harp, and a scroll over his head with “Juste judicate filii hominum” (“Judge justly, ye sons of men”). Justice,[294] crowned, stands beneath an open arch behind a balustrade, with her balance at her feet. With her sword, grasped in her right hand, and with the forefinger of her left, she is pointing to a large tablet suspended from the top of the arch, which contains the inscription: “O vos reigentes obliti privatorum publica curate” (“O ye rulers, forget your private affairs, and care for those of the public”). Wisdom[295] is shown in a shell-crowned niche. She has a double face, and her long hair falls below her waist. In her left hand she holds a torch, and in her right a book with the inscription, “Inicium sapiencie timor domini” (“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”). A scroll over the torch bears the words, “Experiri prius consilio quam armis prestat” (“It is better to try by counsel than by arms”). Finally, Moderation[296] is represented as a young woman with long, clinging garments, in the act of pouring wine from a large vessel of blown glass into a small flagon. The admonition in her case runs, “Qui sibi plus licere vult quam deceat sue studet ruine” (“He who wishes to enjoy more than is his due, acts to his own destruction”). Other inscriptions quoted by Tonjola appear to refer to further paintings, possibly single figures only, of which, however, no traces remain. The compositions on the “back wall,” with subjects from the Old Testament, painted some eight years afterwards, are described in a later chapter.[297] While Holbein was carrying out the earlier paintings, the sculptor Martin Lepzelter was also at work in the Council Chamber. He carved two half-length figures of prophets and four coats of arms for the pillars which supported the ceiling, for which he was paid eight Basel pounds on August 3, 1521.[298] When, on the 29th November 1522, on the Saturday before St. Andrew’s Day, Holbein received a final payment of twenty-two Basel pounds and ten shillings, which was the balance of the 120 gulden he was to receive for the whole work, he had completed two walls of the Council Chamber, and he felt that he had more than earned the amount of his commission, although the back wall was still untouched. He, therefore, made representations to the Council to this effect, and they appear to have felt the justice of the claim, as they could hardly have failed to do, when they saw in how brilliant a manner the completed portion had been carried out. In consequence, they agreed that he had fully earned the money, and ordered the balance to be paid to him, deciding “to let the back wall alone till further orders.”[299] In any case, as the winter had begun, it would have been necessary to postpone the completion of the work until the following spring, and, no doubt, it was the original intention that Holbein should finish the room as soon as the season permitted. For some reason, however, nothing was done in the matter until after his return from his first visit to England. Possibly the Council were too busily occupied in attempting to keep order in a city in which the spread of the new opinions brought about by the Reformation was already dividing the townsfolk into two separate camps. In the spring of 1522, also, Basel was engaged in several military enterprises, which would cause the Council to hesitate before spending money upon such luxuries as art, which could be dispensed with until times were less critical and the city’s affairs more prosperous. ------------------------------------------------------------------------