Scarcely any person who has had an opportunity of examining the works of Martin Schön, or Schöngauer,--one of the earliest German copper-plate engravers,--who is said to have died in 1486, can fail, on looking over the designs in the History of the Virgin, to notice the resemblance which many of his female figures bear to those in the above-named work. The similarity is too striking to have been accidental. I am inclined to believe that Martin Schön must have studied--and diligently too--the subjects contained in the History, or that he had received his professional education in a school which might possibly be founded by the artist who designed and engraved the wood-cuts in question, or under a master who had thoroughly adopted their style. Martin Schön was a native of Colmar in Alsace, where he was born about 1453, but was a descendant of a family, probably of artists, which originally belonged to Augsburg. Heineken and Von Murr both bear testimony,[II-48] though indirectly, to the resemblance which his works bear to the designs in the History of the Virgin. The former states that the figures in the History are very like the ancient sculptures in the churches of Germany, and Von Murr asserts that such sculptures were probably Martin Schön’s models. [Footnote II-48: Heineken, Idée Générale, p. 374. Von Murr, Journal, 2 Theil, S. 43.] In two or three of the designs in the History of the Virgin several shields of arms are introduced, either borne by figures, or suspended from a wall. As the heraldic emblems on such shields were not likely to be entirely suggested by the mere fancy of the artist, I think that most of them will be found to belong to Germany rather than to Holland; and the charge on one of them,--two fish back to back, which is rather remarkable, and by no means common, is one of the quarterings of the former Counts of Wirtemberg, the very district in which I am inclined to think the work was executed. I moreover fancy that in one of the cuts I can perceive an allusion to the Council of Basle, which in 1439 elected Amadeus of Savoy as Pope, under the title of Felix V, in opposition to Eugene IV. In order to afford those who are better acquainted with the subject an opportunity of judging for themselves, and of making further discoveries which may support my opinions if well-founded, or which may correct them if erroneous, I shall give copies of all the shields of arms which occur in the book. The following cut of four figures--a pope, two cardinals, and a bishop--occurs in the upper compartment of the nineteenth folio. The shield charged with a black eagle also occurs in the same compartment. [Illustration]