The Hamburg exemplar has this inscription also, with a few literal variations, as, for instance, the mistake of _saxo_ instead of _saxa_, and the correction of _adiisse_ (which is necessary for the scansion of the line) in place of _adysse_. [Illustration: STEIN PHOTO.] [INKSTAND, ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, FORTNUM COLLECTION, OXFORD 21. “EARTHLY LIFE”] A restless, uncontented care of doing better, which is the hall-mark of genius, is proclaimed in the spirit of the craftsman who thus turned again in his maturity to improve, and, if he could, to perfect the theme he had attempted in his youth. The same spirit is evident in the similar development of a theme which we find in the case of two bronze inkstands formerly in the possession of the late H. Fortnum, Esq., of Stanmore, and now forming part of the Fortnum Collection, bequeathed by him to the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. The first was picked up by the collector in Paris; the second in Genoa. (Ill. 21 and 22.) They are mentioned by Christoph von Murr[8] in 1778 as being in the collection of Dr. Silberrad at Nuremberg, and are called by him “two admirable bas-reliefs in bronze by Peter Vischer.” He further describes the second, that is, the later, in the following terms: “It represents the reminding of the future life. Near an urn, which might serve as an inkpot, stands a naked female figure, about six inches high, pointing towards heaven with her finger. In front of her a skull is lying, behind her a small shield and dagger. A beautiful idea. Leaning against the urn is a tablet with the inscription ‘VITAM NON MORTEM RECOGITA’” (Think on life not death). “Under the base is the sign of the master, two fish with the initials P.V. 1525.... Both pieces are still just as they came from the foundry, and one must admire the accuracy and draughtsmanship which betray the hand of one who is a master of his craft.” Footnote 8: “Beschreibung der vornehmsten Merkwürdigkeiten,” quoted by Seeger.