Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Earliest Arquebusier's and Musketeer's Trapezoidal Powder Flasks, ca. 1530-1590

Matchlock · 19th March 2014, 10:22 PM

Hi Marcus,

It is part of a generally accepted basic knowledge in art history that 15th/16th century artisans - in the case of this woodcut it was Hans Schäufelein, Nuremberg, ca. 1513 - just did not care if their artwork appeared mirrored and laterally reversed.

This fact can be verified by many pieces of the fine arts. In some cases it doubtlessly prevented the artisan from facing the dilemma that he would have to depict the lock mechanism of a gun. That, in my opinion, is exactly the reason why many guns, up till the end of the 18th century, are represented from the 'left' side, opposite of where normall the lock would be - simply because the respective artisan avoided being technically exact.

By at least the 17th century though, we know some guns that were actually made with left-hand sided locks, for left-aiming persons.

Enclosed please find a Resurrection scene by Jan Joest, in the Nicolai Church in Kalkar, of 1506-08, and others.

Best,
Michael

19th March 2014, 10:22 PM	#47
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Hi Marcus, It is part of a generally accepted basic knowledge in art history that 15th/16th century artisans - in the case of this woodcut it was Hans Schäufelein, Nuremberg, ca. 1513 - just did not care if their artwork appeared mirrored and laterally reversed. This fact can be verified by many pieces of the fine arts. In some cases it doubtlessly prevented the artisan from facing the dilemma that he would have to depict the lock mechanism of a gun. That, in my opinion, is exactly the reason why many guns, up till the end of the 18th century, are represented from the 'left' side, opposite of where normall the lock would be - simply because the respective artisan avoided being technically exact. By at least the 17th century though, we know some guns that were actually made with left-hand sided locks, for left-aiming persons. Enclosed please find a Resurrection scene by Jan Joest, in the Nicolai Church in Kalkar, of 1506-08, and others. Best, Michael Attached Images Last edited by Matchlock; 19th March 2014 at 10:35 PM.