Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/263

 *ments formed in concentric circles, the work having been done, as we have said, with a graving tool, and the subjects being richly gilt on a blued ground. In the centre of the shield is screwed a spike of diamond-shaped section which secures two leaf ornaments, and beneath them is engraved the maker's name. In the smaller band round the central spike are the twelve signs of the Zodiac, each contained within the entwined dolphins' tails, which form the arms of female termini that separate the subjects underneath. These are all from classical mythology, and occur in the following order:—(i) Mercury destroying Argus; (ii) Phaeton overturning the chariot of the Sun; (iii) The rape of Europa; (iv) The Dragon devouring the companions of Cadmus; (v) Perseus cutting off the head of Medusa; (vi) Lycaon preparing human flesh; (vii) Jupiter changing the Lycian rustics into frogs to avenge Latona; (viii) Apollo flaying Marsyas; (ix) Jason and the Golden Fleece; (x) Hercules carrying off the apples from the Garden of the Hesperides; (xi) Daedalus and Icarus; (xii) Apollo and Daphne. Below this second row of subjects is another set of twelve panels with intertwined snake borders decorated with subjects chosen from the History of Charles V in the following order: (i) Charles as King of Spain, seated on his throne with attendants; (ii) The Battle of Pavia (1525), with the capture of Francis I, King of France; (iii) Retreat of the Turks, driven before Charles and his brother Ferdinand, King of Hungary, in 1532; (iv) The Death of the Duc de Bourbon; (v) The Siege of the Castle of S. Angelo, in which is imprisoned Pope Clement VII; (vi) The Deliverance of the Christian Captives in Africa by Charles; (vii) The Emperor Charles's invasion of France in 1536; (viii) Submission of the Duke of Cleves to the Emperor Charles in 1543; (ix) The Invasion of Champaigne by the Emperor Charles in 1544; (x) The Proposals of Peace from the Protestants; the king in the centre, his brother Ferdinand, King of the Romans, on the right, Maurice, Duke of Saxony, on the left; (xi) The Submission of the Protestant Cities in 1546; (xii) The Submission of the Landgrave of Hesse in 1547. The exterior circle consists of twelve oblong panels containing the following Biblical subjects: (i) The Creation; (ii) The Angel appearing to Adam in Paradise; (iii) The Creation of Eve; (iv) The Temptation in the Garden of Eden; (v) The rebuke of Adam and Eve; (vi) The Angel driving them from Paradise; (vii) Adam tilling the ground and Eve in sorrow; (viii) The murder of Abel; (ix) Cain hiding himself; (x) The entrance into the Ark; (xi) The Deluge; (xii) The Covenant made with Noah. The scenes representing the victories of the Emperor Charles V are apparently taken from the designs by Maerten van