 |
|
|
The Emperor's pike The subject of this painting is the story called the Emperor’s Pike. Painted in the first half of the seventeenth century by an unknown artist, it depicts a story about a famous fish. This tale has been a great favourite with writers on fishes for hundreds of years. On the painting the following text has been painted: THIS IS THE BIGGNESS OF THE PIKE, WHICH THE EMPEROR FREDERICK THE SECOND WITH HIS OWN HAND, HATH PUT THE FIRST TIME INTO A POOLE AT LAUTERN; AND HATH MARKED HIM WITH THIS RING IN THE YEARE 1230. AFTERWARDS HEE BROUGHT HIM TO HYDELBERG THE 6 OF NOVEMBER 1497. WHEN HEE HAD BEENE IN THE POOLE 267 YEARES. The legend is told that in the year 1230 Emperor Frederick the Second, placed a pike (Esox lucius) into a lake at the castle of Lautern in Germany. He secured a special engraved copper ring on to the fish to identify it. Over 200 years later in 1497 the very same fish was found still wearing the ring but having grown over 17 feet long and weighing 550 pounds. As the longest life span known for a Pike is 50 years this story has been treated a much exaggerated tale. This story has been repeated in many books since Conrad Gesner first wrote about it in Historia Animalium liber IIII (1558) and has fascinated subsequent generations. A skeleton of this famous fish was preserved at the Cathedral
at Mannheim, measuring some 19 feet. However this was later
declared a fake.
The painting of the Emperor’s Pike was presented to the Museum in 1881. It would appear to be an early copy of a picture that once existed at the castle at Lautern. The seventeenth century artist responsible for painting this fishy story remains unknown, adding to the mystery.
Exhibition and publication details Until recently the painting was on display in the Natural History Museum. Thackray, J. C. A. (1995) A catalogue of portraits, paintings
and sculpture at the Natural History Museum London. Mansell:
London. 70pp.
References and further reading Norman, J.R. (1930) The Emperor’s pike: a fish story.
Natural History Magazine, 2, pp.177-181.
|
|
|||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
