264 Sculpture in the Kenaissance Period. soldiers ; in the third, He turns to pronounce his warning words to the weeping women ; in the fourth, his meeting with St. Veronica is depicted ; in the fifth, He is urged on by his persecutors ; in the sixth, He has sunk beneath his burden ; in the seventh, He has fallen for the last time. His body rests upon his mother's knees, and she presses a last kiss upon his unconscious face, whilst Mary, the mother of James, passionately clasps his lifeless hand. Although the artist has not adhered strictly to the tradi- tion, he has given us a powerful and most touching realisa- tion of the great closing drama of our Saviour's life. His Golgotha is scarcely less beautiful. There is no attempt to produce effect by artificial means; the head of the Saviour droops with human exhaustion; the thieves are natural and lifelike. The reliefs of the Schreyer monu- ment * and the " Passion Scene " above the altar in St. Sebald's Church, Nuremberg, well merit study ; and the streets and houses of Nuremberg are enriched with many beautiful reliefs by this great master, in some of which there is an amusing touch of humour. Our illustration (Fig. 110) is one of the latter class, and is taken from above the doorway of the Public Scales of Nuremberg. At Nuremberg alone was the art of bronze casting prac- tised to any extent in Germany in the Renaissance period ; and the only great master in this branch of statuary was Peter Vischer (died 1529). His principal work is the tomb of St. Sebald at Nuremberg (Fig. Ill) — enriched with a great number of figures of saints, apostles, and angels, amongst which the artist has introduced his own portrait. Some of the scenes are representations of marvellous miracles, — a few bold touches suffice to tell the tale;
- Casts are in the South Kensington Museum.
