EARLY WORKS
this Child of Light was wise in his generation, and
knowing that artists are rare, and that through
their pen or brush alone can most men achieve an
earthly immortality, the archbishop had ordered
his tomb from Peter Vischer in 1494, though he
himself did not die till 1513. He was not so
foolish as to leave the matter to the care of un-
grateful heirs like Browning's Bishop who ordered
his tomb in St. Praxed’s Church. The date on
the tombstone, which is the date of the setting up
thereof, is variously interpreted 1495 and 1497.
But all Peter Vischer’s 5's are quite unlike the
final figure in this inscription, although many
perceive in it a 5 after the manner of the Arabic
lettering of those days. Moreover Vischer was
in Heidelberg in 1494, and only returned to
Nuremberg to stay in 1496. Only at Nuremberg
can he have had the appliances necessary for so
elaborate a work, and, even if he paid a flying
visit there before '96, he had not sufficient time to
complete his task by 1495. There is yet another
reason for putting the date of the Magdeburg
monument as late as possible, and that is its
amazing superiority to the Breslau tomb of Bishop
John IV., the setting up of which Peter Vischer
himself personally superintended in 1496. The
latter monument is so inferior in style and treat-
ment that it is incredible that the artist, after
having made such an advance as is exhibited in
the Magdeburg memorial, should have gone back
in the following year to so hard, forced and yet
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