# Wedding Festival Book of Archduke Ferdinand II: Mercury and Carriage

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/elssser-sigmund-r2442910f022314/wedding-festival-book-of-archduke-ferdinand-ii-mercury-and-carriage-r6626cfda9945a0>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [ELSÄSSER, Sigmund](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/elssser-sigmund-r2442910f022314>)
- Date: 1551-1600
- Technique: Copperplate etching with watercolour on paper, 430 x 545 mm

## Commentary

Sigmund Elsässer was a court painter of Archduke Ferdinand II. He recorded pageants, weddings, and other court festivities. The so-called Wedding Festival Book of Archduke Ferdinand II owes its origins to the second marriage ceremony of the Tyrolian nobleman in May 1582 at Innsbruck; the bride was the Mantuan Princess Anna Caterina Gonzaga. The codex contains 106 colour prints of the events of a tournament, which was arranged for the festivities. Folio 60r of the codex shows a knight on a sledge elaborately decorated with branches and garlands, in which two men in plate armour are concealed.

## Related artworks

- [Kolowrat Wedding](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/elssser-sigmund-r2442910f022314/kolowrat-wedding-rea135c19d9c553>)
- [Wedding Festival Book of Archduke Ferdinand II: Neptune](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/elssser-sigmund-r2442910f022314/wedding-festival-book-of-archduke-ferdinand-ii-neptune-rcfef43ae9c41e9>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)