Daniel Lindtmeyer. Arms of the Registry Office of Berne. Swiss, 1574.

Design for painted glass showing the arms of the Registry Office of Berne, supported on the left by a standard bearer holding in his left hand the banner of the same canton which depicts a bear rampant. Two compartments at the top contain, on the left the children mocking Elisha, and on the right, the bears devouring the children. The design has horizontal and vertical creases.

Attribution note: The eagle on the right side of the shield has been left unfinished. This is because this section would be a direct mirror of that on the left. The column on the right side by the halberdier is also unfinished. Such economy is typical of the working practice of designers and the glass painter would have reproduced on the right the shading on the left side. Other designs by Lindtmeyer show that he often left the right side of the shield and the column unfinished. This method can be seen in the earlier sketch for the shield of the Schauffhausen Registry Office of 1570; the design for the shield of the Solothurn Registry Office of 1572, and in copies of his designs by the 1628 copyist for the shield of the Registry Office at Bern, and for the Swiss shield. See Thone, Friedrich. Daniel Lindtmayer 1552-1606/07: die Schaffhauser Kunstlerfamilie Lindtmayer. Zurich: Verlag Berichthaus, 1975. 151 p., 40, Kat.5, Abb.6; Kat. 420, Abb. 25; Kat. 427, Abb. 18a; Kat. 419, Abb. 18b.

There is a sharp, horizontal and a vertical fold in the design the purpose of which is unclear although the vertical one produces a central line for the parts of the design that are based on a symmetrical axis. A line for the same purpose could, however, have been more easily drawn. The creases could have been an aid to transfer of the design by painting onto a glass panel. The guidance being given by clear division into sections. The creases thus might be part of the designer's working method and can be seen in other designs by him, for example, the sketch for the shield with the coat of arms of the Schaffhauser gunsmiths and riflemen in Historisches Museumin Bern, and the sketch for the shield of the Schaffhausen Registry Office in the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum in Zurich, see ibid, Kat. 33, Abb. 57 and Kat.5, Abb.6. Alternatively, the designs could have been sent folded to the client.

This is a cartoon for painted glass by Daniel Lindtmeyer (born 1552 to 1606/7) drawn in 1574 showing the arms of the Registry Office of Berne, Switzerland supported on the left by a standard-bearer holding in his left hand the banner of the same canton which depicts a bear. On the right is a halberdier, with a halberd in his right hand. Two compartments at the top contain, on the left the children mocking Elisha, and on the right, the bears devouring the children.

The eagle on the right side of the shield has been left unfinished. This is because this section would be a direct mirror of that on the left. The column on the right side by the halberdier is also unfinished. Such economy is typical of the working practice of designers and the glass painter would have reproduced on the right the shading on the left side. Other designs by Lindtmeyer show that he often left the right side of the shield and the column unfinished. This method can be seen in the earlier sketch for the shield of the Schauffhausen Registry Office of 1570; the design for the shield of the Solothurn Registry Office of 1572, and in copies of his designs by the 1628 copyist for the shield of the Registry Office at Bern, and for the Swiss shield. See Thone, Friedrich. Daniel Lindtmayer 1552-1606/07: die Schaffhauser Künstlerfamilie Lindtmayer. Zurich: Verlag Berichthaus, 1975. 151 p., 40, Kat.5, Abb.6; Kat. 420, Abb. 25; Kat. 427, Abb. 18a; Kat. 419, Abb. 18b.

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