Triumphal chariot
The chariot (also honor car or chariot , lat. Currus triumphalis ) is a predominantly medieval theme with the historical background of the Greco-Roman Quadriga , one from the open armed , race or chariot of four horses steered.
The motif in antiquity
For this car was already in pre-Christian antiquity a chariot various gods, beginning with the sun god Helios , whose chariot therefore chariot is called. In late antiquity , for example, this motif was found in the Roman province of Africa (today: Tunisia) on a mosaic - with Dionysus as the handlebar. On a sarcophagus from the 2nd century BC The triumphal procession of Bacchus and Ariadne was represented. There is also a representation for almost all other Roman gods , especially Apollon , Amor , Jupiter and Minerva .
The motif of the vehicle was ultimately also applied to the triumphant emperors , including Tiberius on the " Boscoreale cup " from the 1st half of the 1st century and Titus on the Arch of Titus in Rome.
The motif in the Middle Ages
- The motif in Dante Alighieri

In earthly paradise on the summit of the Purification Mountain , Dante meets the souls who have completed their atonement and are waiting for entry into paradise. He sees a triumphal march, the center of which is a carro trionfale drawn by a griffin , which is supposed to symbolize the church. During this procession he meets Beatrice, his great love from the Vita Nuova . The cart of the church is transformed by various external influences into a hideous monster on which the whore Babylon takes a seat.
- The motif in Francesco Petrarca
The depictions of triumph by Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374) in his poem Trionfi were mainly painted and engraved in antique style as a triumphal chariot, among others by Philipp Galle († 1612) after inventions by Maarten van Heemskerck († 1574) and by Georg Pencz († 1550 ), even though Petrarch himself mentions the chariot in his Trionfi only for love.
The motif in Renaissance and Baroque
This ambivalent mythological allegory was retained beyond the Middle Ages.
- Triumph of the planet gods
Francesco del Cossa and Cosmè Tura , among others, painted the planet gods as drivers of triumphal chariots in the salone dei mesi in the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara around 1469/1470 . Later, Crispin de Passe the Elder († 1637) again stabbed the planets as drivers of triumphal chariots.
- The motif for Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer († 1528) painted several triumphal chariots for Emperor Maximilian I († 1519), most recently the Great Triumphal Chariot from 1518 Dürer also knows the purely allegorical use of the motif.
- Reuchlin and Pythagoras on the triumphal chariot
In a woodcut to Hutten's writing "Triumphus Doc. Reuchlini" (1519), the Pforzheim humanist Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522) is shown on the chariot. In 1540 the "Triumphal Chariot of Pythagoras" was painted on the edge of a flying sheet with Melanchthon's poem in praise of Wittenberg.
- The chariots of the elements
In the middle of the 16th century, the Flemish artist Anton Wierix made triumphal chariots of the elements earth, air, water and fire.
- The triumphal chariot of Antimony by Basilius Valentinus
And at the beginning of the 17th century Basilius Valentinus wrote an alchemical classic with the title "The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony", which is figuratively drawn by the planetary forces.
- The triumph of the Church with Peter Paul Rubens
In 1626 Peter Paul Rubens painted his well-known picture The Triumph of the Church over Idolatry , using the motif of the triumphal chariot.
See also
Web links
Footnotes
- ^ Picture of the car in the Bardo National Museum, Tunis
- ↑ Picture of the car on online-media.uni-marburg.de ( Memento of the original from June 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Oliver Nagler: Six Triumphs after Petrarca (after 1539) by Georg Pencz. In: Between Dürer and Raffael. Graphic series Nürnberger Kleinmeister. Edited by Karl Moseneder. Petersberg 2010, pp. 61-84.
- ↑ Online catalog about the world's triumphal chariot at kgi.ruhr-uni-bochum.de ( Memento of the original from February 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ See on kgi.ruhr-uni-bochum.de : Jupiter ( Memento of the original dated November 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Saturn ( Memento of the original dated November 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Mars ( Memento of the original dated November 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Venus ( Memento of the original from November 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Sonne ( Memento of the original dated November 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Moon ( Memento of the original dated November 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. and Merkur ( memento of the original from June 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Large triumphal chariot for Emperor Maximilian I on bildindex.de , 1518.
- ↑ See the pictures on deutschlandsberg.at: The Great Triumphal Car ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , The Great Triumphal Chariot ( Memento of the original from September 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , The Great Triumphal Chariot ( Memento of the original from November 4, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The triumphal chariot of Pythagoras. Edge of a flying leaf with Melanchthon's poem in praise of Wittenberg (1540) illustration, in: Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte, 1927, vol. 5
- ↑ Hans G. Lenz (Ed.): Basilius Valentinus: Triumphwagen des Antimons. Text - Comments - Studies . 2004
- ↑ Title copy of the work, 1727 ( Memento of the original from January 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.