Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileS. Bonifacivs archiep. Mogvntinvs. M
About This Work
Saint Boniface kneels in the center of a chaotic scene, his arms spread wide as a group of armed men surround him. One attacker plunges a sword through a book the saint holds above his head, a detail referencing the traditional account of his death where he used a Gospel book as a shield. In the background, a landscape reveals ships at anchor and a series of tents under a sky broken by rays of divine light.
As a work by Aegidius Sadeler, the principal engraver at the court of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, this print represents the high technical standard of the Rudolfine circle. While religious in subject, it reflects the artistic environment of a court that was a primary hub for late Renaissance natural philosophy, alchemy, and Hermeticism.
Inscriptions(Latin)
S. BONIFACIVS ARCHIEP. MOGVNTINVS. M. Quo te magne pater quondam Germania vultu, Legibus accepit reddita sancta tuis? Aureus arrisit tibi Rhenus et inclitus Ister, Atq_ propinauit tota fluenta Mogus. Acceptam referunt Boij Thugoriq_ salutem; Saxo colit Patrem barbare Friso necas! Flumine purpureo nostros Pater imbuit agros, Hinc creuit Caelo tam numerosa seges.
Translation
ST. BONIFACE, ARCHBISHOP OF MAINZ, MARTYR. With what countenance, O great father, did Germany of old, Having been restored by your laws, receive you as holy? The golden Rhine smiled upon you, and the renowned Danube, And the Main offered up its entire streams. The Boii and Thuringians report the salvation received; The Saxon honors the Father, while the savage Frisian slays! With a crimson river the Father bedewed our fields, Hence grew so numerous a harvest for Heaven.
Connected Texts
Willibald of Mainz
Author of the 8th-century 'Vita Bonifatii', the primary hagiographic source for the martyrdom scene depicted, including the detail of the book used as a shield.
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.