A Brandenburg Ulysses

The wanderings of Ulysses were considered the ancient model of noble travel. Sigismund von Birken, who had accompanied the Margrave Christian Ernst of Brandenburg on his Grand Tour, glorified them in a travelogue, which appeared in 1668 under the title Hoch Fürstlicher Brandenburgischer Ulysses. The frontispiece shows a banner with the title of the work between the personification of prudence (Prudentia) with a telescope and the caduceus of Hermes and Hercules as the embodiment of the sovereign virtues.

Sigismund von Birken (1626-1681), “Hoch Fürstlicher Brandenburgischer Ulysses”, frontispiece, Bayreuth 1668, source: Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel, signature: drucke/gm-609, http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/gm-609/start.htm?image=00007.