This 112-sheet manuscript includes depictions of contestants equipped for various tournaments; a parade preceding a late form of tournament called a carrousel; participants in tournaments known as Gesellenstrechen, or bachelors' jousts, held in Nuremberg between 1446 and 1561; and depictions of pageant sleighs, some of which were used in a parade held in the winter of 1640–41. The illustrations are probably the work of a Briefmaler, or letter painter, who also would have written and embellished official documents and painted coats-of-arms.
In many instances, the names of the tournament participants are written above them. They are armed for the Gestech, the joust fought with blunt lances. A helmet and a four-pronged lance head similar to those in the album are also on display in gallery 373 (acc. nos. 29.156.67a, 42.50.40). Albums such as this provide an invaluable record of the jousters' colorful costumes, fanciful crests, and humorous, often satirical emblems that decorated the jouster's shields and horse trappings.
#4429. Album of Tournaments and Parades in Nuremberg
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4429. Album of Tournaments and Parades in Nuremberg
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Inside back cover
Back cover
Artwork Details
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Title:Album of Tournaments and Parades in Nuremberg
Date:late 16th–mid-17th century
Geography:Nuremberg
Culture:German, Nuremberg
Medium:Pen and ink, watercolor, gold and silver washes; paper bound in gold-tooled leather
Dimensions:cover: 14 x 10 3/8 in. (35.56 x 26.35 cm); page: 13 5/8 x 9 7/8 in. (34.61 x 25.08 cm)
Classification:Books & Manuscripts
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1922
Object Number:22.229
[Frédéric Spitzer, Paris, until d. 1890; his estate, 1890–93; Catalogue des Objets d'Art et de Haute Curiosité: Antiques, du Moyen-âge & de la Renaissance, Composant l'Importante et Précieuse Collection Spitzer. vol. 2, Chevallier and Mannheim, April 17–June 16, 1893, no. 3036 for Fr. 4000]; [Edouard Rouveyre, Paris, until 1921; sold to MMA].
Paris. Musée Historique du Costume. "Union Centrale des Beaux-Arts Appliqués a l'Industrie, Quatrième Exposition," 1874, no. 58.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Dürer and Beyond: Central European Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1400–1700," April 3–September 3, 2012.
Union Centrale des Beaux-Arts appliqués à l'Industrie. Exposition 1874: Musée Historique Du Costume. Paris, 1874. p. 58.
Union Centrale des Beaux-Arts appliqués à l'Industrie. Catalogue des Oeuvres et des Produits Modernes Exposés au Palais de l'Industrie, par l'Union Centrale des Beaux-Arts Appliqués à l'Industrie, Quatrième Exposition, 1874. Paris: A. Chaix et Cie, 1874. p. 58.
Mummenhoff, Ernst. Das Rathaus in Nürnberg. Nuremberg: J. L. Schrag, 1891. pp. 152–53.
Spitzer, Frédéric. La Collection Spitzer: Antiquite, Moyen-Age, Renaissance. Vol. 2. Paris: Maison Quantin, 1891. p. 360, no. 34.
Chevallier, Paul. Catalogue des Objets d'Art et de Haute Curiosité: Antiques, du Moyen-âge & de la Renaissance, Composant l'Importante et Précieuse Collection Spitzer. Vol. 2. Paris: Chevallier and Mannheim, April 17–June 16, 1893. p. 226, no. 3036.
Barbeck, Hugo. Alt–Nürnberg: Kulturgeschichtliche Bilder aus Nürnbergs Vergangenheit. Nuremberg: Verlag von Heerdegen-Barbeck, 1894–1902. pl. 1 (a similar tournament book).
Dean, Bashford. "An Early Tournament Book." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (June 1922), pp. 124–26, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. "The Tournament." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (1973–74), pp. 78–79, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. Ullstein-Waffenbuch: eine kulturhistorische Waffenkunde mit Markenverzeichnis. Berlin: Ullstein, 1974. p. 88, ill.
Luther, Martin, Christiane Andersson, and Charles N. Talbot. From a Mighty Fortress: Prints, Drawings, and Books in the Age of Luther, 1483–1546. Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1983. no. 16 (similar tournament books discussed).
Mackay-Smith, Alexander, Jean L. Druesedow, and Thomas Ryder. Man and the Horse: An Illustrated History of Equestrian Apparel. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1984. pp. 32–33, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. "Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 1991), pp. 4, 64, ill.
Pyhrr, Stuart W., Donald J. La Rocca, and Dirk H. Breiding. The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480–1620. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. pp. 14, 35, fig. 28.
Kammel, Frank Matthias. "Von Schlitten und vom Schlittenfahren: Beiträge zu einem kulturgeschichtlichen Forschungsfeld." Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums (2008), pp. 113–15, fig. 7.
Nickel, Helmut, and Dirk H. Breiding. "A Book of Tournaments and Parades from Nuremberg." Metropolitan Museum Journal (2010), pp. 125–86, ill.
Alsteens, Stijn, Freyda Spira, and Maryan W. Ainsworth. Dürer and Beyond: Central European Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1400–1700. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. pp. 162–65, no. 74, ill.
Pyhrr, Stuart W. "Of Arms and Men: Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan, 1912–2012." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 2012), pp. 29–30, fig. 45.
Krause, Stefan. "Chivalry Illustrated: Tournament Books of the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance." In Tournaments: A Thousand Years of Chivalry, edited by Stefan Krause. London: Thomas Del Mar Ltd., 2022. p. 147, n. 49.
Beuing, Raphael. "Zur Rezeption des Nürnberger Gesellenstechens von 1446 in Zeichnungen des Bayerischen Nationalmuseums." Waffen- und Kostümkunde: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Historische Waffen- und Kostümkunde (2023), p. 6, fig. 6.
Château de Versailles. Cheval En Majesté: Au Cœur d’Une Civilisation, edited by Hélène Delalex. Paris: LienArt, 2024. endpapers, pp. 332–8, 379–81, no. 122, ill.
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