Crossbow and Bolt Case
Franz Kaphan, Dresdenc. 1570
Renaissance and Reformation. German Art in the Age of Dürer and Cranach
This crossbow and box for storing bolts were probably commissioned by the electoral couple Augustus and Anne, whose monograms and coats of arms (Electorate of Saxony, Denmark) decorate the cover of the box. The Dresden maker of this set based it stylistically on a helmet-and-shield set from Milan in the Rüstkammer. The figurative ornaments celebrate virtues such as bravery and justice. Two scenes show the arrest and execution of Manlius, by order of his father: a parable for just rule. The model for the depiction of his beheading is a copperplate engraving by Heinrich Aldegrever (1553). In 1606 a gift from Christian II to the Brandenburg Prince Elector John Sigismund, this splendid set returned to Dresden through an exchange in 1907.
- Title: Crossbow and Bolt Case
- Creator: Franz Kaphan, Dresden
- Date Created: c. 1570
- Physical Dimensions: crossbow: L (stock): 62.1 cm, W (bow): 61.8 cm, Wt: 5,643 g, bolt case: H: 16.6 cm, W: 45.5 cm, D: 25.3 cm, Wt: 5,431 g
- Technique and Material: Crossbow (“Halbe Rüstung”) Prod: Iron, forged, wheel mark; tie: hemp, gilded; stock: wood; fittings: iron, hammered, inlaid with gold and silver and blued, bolt saddle: gilded; bolt holder: iron inlayed with gold and silver; nut: staghorn; quarrel: iron, cut, partially gilded / Bolt Case: Body: wood, fittings: iron, hammered, inlayed with gold and silver and blued; lining: velvet, lining on the bottom of the box: velvet; key: brass, gilded
- Provenance: First listed in the inventory of the guns in 1580; then again in 1907 in the accession list
- Museum: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Rüstkammer
- Inv.-No.: U 267; U 268
- ISIL-No.: DE-MUS-845714
- External Link: http://www.skd.museum/de/museen-institutionen/residenzschloss/ruestkammer/
- Copyright: Photo © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Rüstkammer/ Jürgen Karpinski Text © Renaissance and Reformation: German Art in the Age of Dürer and Cranach, A Cooperation of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen München, Catalogue of the Exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Nov 20, 2016 – March 26, 2017, Munich: Prestel, 2016; cat. no. 54 / Gernot Klatte
- Catalogue: https://prestelpublishing.randomhouse.de/book/Renaissance-and-Reformation/Stephanie-Buck/Prestel-com/e504919.rhd
- Artist Dates: unknown
- Artist Biography: unknown
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