The theme itself can indeed hardly be called a development but rather the counterpart of the other. It is the answer of the spiritual side of man to the earthly promptings of his nature. Think not on this life nor on this death—but on the other life. In obedience to this point of view the skull has been placed in a more prominent position. It is no longer trampled on in the ecstasy of earthly enjoyment but recognized rather, and triumphed over, by this upward-gazing Vita, upward pointing. Death, it is meant, should be used, and welcomed almost, as the gate of heavenly life. The many deaths that had darkened the doors of his own house had, it is probable, sobered and saddened Peter Vischer’s great son, and perhaps his own failing health or some premonition of an early death, was by this time leading him to reflect in a chastened yet hopeful spirit on the motto that he loved, and to interpret it afresh in this allegorical wise: “Vitam non Mortem Recogita.” It was the motto inscribed upon his grave in St. Rochus Church when he died but three years later, and was laid to rest by his aged father. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER VIII THE TOMB OF ELECTOR FREDERICK THE WISE, AND THE RATHAUS RAILING BUT the work of Peter Vischer the younger was not yet done. It remained, indeed, for him to perform some of his greatest achievements. Certain documents quoted by Baader[9] show that it was he who, in the beginning of the year 1527, completed the monument to the Elector Frederick the Wise at Wittenberg, of which Lübke writes that it is “a classic work and through it the German art of that period is worthy to take rank with the Italian.” The life-size figure of the great Elector stands in strong relief upon a bronze plate within a frame of Corinthian pillars, outside which, on either side, the sixteen coats of arms of the ancestors of the Prince’s house are recorded, whilst his own arms form the central point of the arch above his head. Above the latter coat-of-arms two sturdy angels, forming a central headpiece, hold a laurel wreath, and therewith the Elector’s favourite text inscribed in Latin: “The word of the Lord endureth for ever.” The base on which the feet rest is richly decorated with forms of sea monsters and sporting children in the craftsman’s most joyous and luxuriant manner. Frederick himself is draped boldly in the broad sweep of the Electoral cloak, and in a cape of rich ermine. Of ermine, too, is the Elector’s hat, which rests upon a noble brow. But even beneath those heavy robes the vigour and spring of the man’s energetic form make themselves felt, nor can the gloved hands disguise the strength of his grasp upon the Sword of the Realm, which he holds aslant his shoulder. And the face is full of life and fire, quick with the keen gaze of a leader of men, and eloquently expressive of determination and strenuous endeavour.