Frederick Parkes Weber - Additional Remarks on a Portrait Medal of Paracelsus dated 1541, 1895

ADDITIONAL REMARKS ON A

PORTRAIT MEDAL OF PARACELSUS Dated 1541.

BY

F. P.

WEBER,

M.D., F.S.A.

REPRINTED FROM THE "NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE," Vol. XV., Third Seeies, Pages 154—160.

LONDON 1895.

ADDITIONAL REMARKS ON A PORTRAIT MEDAL OF PARACELSUS DATED 1541.

Fig.

In the Numismatic pp. 60

—71)

Chronicle,

1.

1893 (3rd

Series, vol. xiii.,

I gave an account of a portrait-medal of

my possession, dated 1541 (see Fig. 1). At had not seen the two copperplate engravings

Paracelsus in that tunc

T

a

2

A

PORTRAIT MEDAL OF PARACELSUS.

of Paracelsus dated respectively 1540 and 1538 (see Figs.

2

&

These two engravings, together with the medal, and perhaps some of the other medals, probably furnish us 3).

with the most authentic portraits of Paracelsus extant.

^

.

."<;;>â&#x20AC;˘

sit Qvr svvs.gfSfc

Fig.

The

portrait on the medal,

poto

r

^

-2.

da#ed 1541, whether

made

before or after the death of Paracelsus in that year, does

not appear to be a mere copy of the portrait on the en-

graving dated 1540, for in the medal the

lines

on the

forehead of Paracelsus are more sharply marked than

in

the engraving, and there Altogether,

dress.

3

PORTRAIT MEDAL OF PARACELSUS.

A

some slight

is

difference in his

the two engravings and the medal

give us a series of portraits of Paracelsus during the last years of his

who

It

life.

know

original of the latter of

which

the artists of these likenesses were.

The two engravings, an in the Print

is

to

would indeed be interesting

Room

Museum,

of the British

are both

apparently from the same hand, and are both signed witli the

monogram

been maintained by Joseph

It has

Heller {Praktisches Handbuc.h fur Kupferstichsammler, 2nd

monogram

1850, p. 311) that the

ed., Leipzig,

Numbers

Ausrustin Hirschvo°;el of

.

medal might actually be by the same baud,

for

Ilirschvogel, as well as being an engraver,

draughtsman,

and

probably

The following

modelling:.

is

also

was

Augustin

was a good

1

(?

with

familiar

a short account of his

Augustin Hirschvogel, or Hirsvogel

came

stands for

If this were so the

1

1503

of a family long settled at jSiirnberg,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

?

life.

1560),

and formerly

His father (died 1525) was the glass painter,

wealthy.

Veit Ilirschvogel, but he

is

said to

have excelled his

father in glass painting, and became the most famous of his brothers.

He

an enameller in

He and

travelled is

was a good draughtsman, an engraver,

colours,

much, and in Venice studied antique

made copies of antique vases. His goldsmith's work exist, and he is said also to

gem

have trained himself in See

art,

said to have

designs for

1

a glass painter, and a potter.

G. Doppelmayr,

engraving.

He

studied

von den NiirnNiirnberg, 1730, fol. p. 199 ; Joseph Bergmann, Medaillen atlf beriihmte und cmst/ezeichnete Manner des Oesterreichischen Kaiserstaates, Vienna, 1884, vol. i., pp. 280â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 295; Friedrioh Jaenuicke, Grundnns der Kermnilc, Stuttgart, 1879, p. 44G; G. K. Nagler's EunstlerLexicon, vol. vi., p. 191.

J.

bergischen

JTistorinche Nachricht

Matliematids mid.

Kilnstlern,

A PORTRAIT MEDAL OF PARACELSUS.

4

mathematics, and wrote a book on Perspective, &c. medal with his portrait is figured by Doppelmayr

XIV.) and by Joseph Bergmann. glazed pottery

name from

known

The old

as " Hirschvogel

A (PI.

German

ware " derives

its

this family of Niirnberg.

Unfortunately,

great doubt

Fig.

remains

as

to

the real

3.

authorship of the two engravings attributed to Augustin Hirschvogel.

The monogram

vogel's usual signature, his, it

/\\ is certainly

and even

if

the

not Hirsch-

monogram were

appears that he did not engrave the copperplates

himself (see G. K. Nagler, Die Monogrammisten, p. 322).

One

fact,

vol.

i.,

however, appears certain, namety, that

the author of these two

engravings of Paracelsus was

A PORTRAIT MEDAL OF PARACELSUS.

engraving of Dr. Johannes

the author of an

likewise

Fabricius, of Salzburg, in 1540 (Nagler, op.

This makes

was

it

on the two engravings

may

at Salz-

The

likeness

then be accepted as authentic,

and one must therefore admit on the

oil

also the similar likenesses

painting of the town library at Niirnberg (Prof.

und Abbildungen

Carl Aberle, Grabdenkmal, Schadel

Theophrastus Paracelsus, Salzburg, 1891,

on the op.

oil

cit.,

p. 323).

was temporarily

1540 and saw Paracelsus himself.

in

cit.,

probable that, whoever he was, the artist

either living at Salzburg or

burg

5

p.

painting in the

Museum

at

p. 382,

des

No. 45),

Salzburg (Aberle,

388, No. 50), on the medal in

my

possession,

and on other medals with a similar portrait of Paracelsus.

How much

less

claim to authenticity most of the other

may be gathered by Aberle {op. cit.), who

types of portraits of Paracelsus possess,

an examination of the work of Prof. C.

has most carefully collected together descriptions of the extant portraits, and classified them into types. correctness of the likeness (Aberle, op.

cit.,

PI. II., fig. 3)

on the engravings by Wentzel Hollar (1607 can be after

said,

For the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 1677)

little

even supposing that the engraving was made

some now unknown

oil

painting by Rembrandt.

Rubens' s painting and the engravings by Sompel, Gaywood, &c, after Rubens, give an equally untrustworthy likeness of Paracelsus (Aberle, op.

cit.,

PI. II.,

fig.

4),

although a painting of the sixteenth century with a similar portrait

is

present unknown).

said to exist (in

The supposed

by Tintoret (Aberle, doubt;

it

whose possession

is

at

portrait of Paracelsus also

open to

was engraved by F. Chauveau as the

frontis-

op.

cit.,

PI.

III.)

is

piece to the Latin edition of the collective works of Paracelsus,

published at Geneva,

painting

is

not

now known

in

1658.

to exist.

The

origiiuil

If this portrait

A PORTRAIT MEDAL OF 1'ARACELSUS.

(i

really represents Paracelsus,

portrait

dated

must have been

it

siderably earlier period of his

was born

whan

Jacopo Pobusti,

at Venice, in 1512,

Aberle suggests that, as a boy he of Paracelsus,

than that at which the

life

1538 represents him.

called Tintoretto,

at a con-

and Prof.

may have made

a sketch

the latter was surgeon in the Venetian

army, and that in later years, when Paracelsus became a

more famous man, he may have painted a the sketch.

Chauveau's plate

Sculpsit, I.

Tintoret ad

signed, " F. Chauveau,

is

vivum

from

portrait

pinxit."

It is possible

now

that Chauveau copied his likeness from some portrait lost sight of, really

made

" ad vivum " by Tintoret, though

the identification in Chauveau's time of the portrait as one

may have been

of Paracelsus

a mistake.

There exists a portrait of Paracelsus representing him

man, namely the

as a middle-aged

oil

painting belonging

which

to the Historical Society of St. Gallen,

authentic,

IV.,

fig.

and bears the date 1529 (Aberle,

With

11).

is

said to be

op. cit., PI.

this doubtful exception, the only

authentic likenesses of Paracelsus are the above-mentioned engravings,

him

paintings, and medals representing

oil

in the years 1538, 1540,

and 1541, and

later copies

of these portraits.

In conclusion I may mention that

I

have not yet heard

of the existence of another medal exactly like the one in

my

possession.

This

is

not very surprising.

teenth centmy, in Germany, probably

many

In the

of the gold-

smiths and engravers occasionally modelled medals, this

was not

their usual

consider the medal in artist

employment.

question as a

six-

when

I feel inclined to trial-piece

by an

not usually employed in making medals, and this

would account

for only one example,

being at present known.

From

and that in

Prof. C.

lead,

Aberle's book

7

A PORTRAIT MEDAL OK PARACELSUS. (op.

I

cit.)

have derived great assistance, and have

thank Mr. Lionel Oust, formerly of the British

to

Museum

Room, hut now Director of the National Portrait Gallery, for in formal ion concerning the engravings of Print

Paracelsus.

Illustrations.

1, reprinted from the Num. Chron., 1893, medal of Paracelsus in my possession.

Figure

Obv.

—

THKOPHRASTVS PARACELSVS •

p. 60, is the

•

A°

1541

Half-length figure, facing, of Paracelsus, with his

head slightly inclined to the spectator's right hand.

The face is without hair and the lines are very harshly expressed ; the top of the head is bald.

He is dressed in a loose gown fastened From his neck an by a girdle around the waist. amulet (?) is suspended by a thin cord, and with his hands he grasps the handle of a large twohanded sword.

No

reverse.

Diameter, 3"1 inches

;

cast

;

lead.

Figure 2 is a reduced copy of the engraving of 1540, taken with permission from the example in the British Museum.

The portrait of Paracelsus is similar to that on the medal, but bis head is inclined in the contrary direction, and the lines on the face are less harshly expressed.

Figure 3

is

a reduced copy of the engraving of 1538.

The

on the later print of 1540, but the oust only is represented, and his head is in profile to right.

No amulet is suspended from the neck.

Figure 3 is taken from PI. V« in Prof. C. Aberle's book (op. cit.), since the British Museum only possesses a woodcut, somewhat varied from the original engraving. portrait of Paracelsus is similar to that