For the rest let the mangled remains be placed
in iron cages swung from the tower of St. Lambert's Church.
"On the 26th of January, 1536, Jan Bockelson and Knipperdollinch meet
their fate. A high scaffolding is erected in the market-place, and
before it a lofty throne for his grace the bishop, that he may glut
his vengeance to the full. Let the rest pass in silence. The most
reliable authorities tell us that the Anabaptists remained calm and
firm to the last. 'Art thou a king?' 'Art thou a bishop?' The iron
cages still hang on the church tower at Muenster; placed as a warning,
they have become a show; perhaps some day they will be treasured as
weird mentors of the truth which the world has yet to learn from the
story of the Kingdom of God in Muenster."
A living German artist of great power, named Joseph Sattler, too
much of whose time has recently been given to designing book-plates,
produced some few years ago an extraordinary illustrated history of the
Anabaptists in Muenster. Many artists have essayed to portray madness,
but I know of no work more terrible than his.
We have travelled far from Leyden's peaceful studios. It is time to
look at the work of Gerard Dou. Rembrandt we have seen was the son of
a miller, Jan Steen of a brewer; the elder Dou was a glazier.
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