
Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileDe heilige Corbinianus beveelt hertog Grimoald zijn vrouw te verlaten
About This Work
Saint Corbinian stands in his episcopal robes and mitre, raising a finger in stern admonition toward the kneeling Duke Grimoald and Pilitrud. In the foreground, a bear lies submissively at the saint's feet, referencing the miracle where Corbinian forced a wild bear to serve as a pack animal. The background features a detailed landscape with a fortress and towers, rendered with the precise linework characteristic of the Prague court style.
Engraved by Aegidius Sadeler, the court artist of Rudolf II, this work reflects the high intellectual culture of Prague and the Counter-Reformation's use of hagiography to assert spiritual authority. The Latin inscription employs the term 'mystae' (initiate or priest of mysteries) to describe the Saint, bridging Christian iconography with the terminology of late-Renaissance sacred mysteries and the taming of the passions.
Inscriptions(Latin)
S. CORBINIANVS EPISCOPVS FRISINGENSIS. Pone genu Princeps, pacemq; antistitis ora, Non implacatum si cupis esse Deum. Cernis; vt immanem parêre coegerit vrsum, Et graue ferre sui quadrupedantis onus. Si fera sentit herum, mystæq; obtemperat ori, Quis detrectabit numinis imperium? Emendet nostros siluestris bellua mores; Illa refert hominem, sæpius iste feram.
Translation
ST. CORBINIAN, BISHOP OF FREISING. Bend your knee, Prince, and pray for the prelate’s peace, If you do not wish for God to be unappeased. You see how he compelled the monstrous bear to obey, And to carry the heavy burden of his four-footed load. If a wild beast acknowledges its master and obeys the priest’s voice, Who would refuse the command of the Divine? Let the forest beast correct our ways; It recalls the human, while the latter too often recalls the beast.
Connected Texts
Matthäus Rader
This print was produced for Rader’s 'Bavaria Sancta' (1615), a monumental hagiographical project illustrated by Sadeler.
Collections
Provenance & Source
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
paper
width 156 mm x height 220 mm
religious
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.