Anonymous: Hofämterspiel (1455)

(kunsthistorisches museum wien, Vienna, Austria)

A set of 4 woodcuts made by an unknown Germna artist. These four woodcuts comes from a set of Playing cards called "Hofämterspiel" (= Court-office Game). This set was commissioned by Ladislaus the Posthumous (1440-1457), Duke of Austria, and King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia. The set consists of forty-eight cards, divided into four suits with the coats of arms of four kingdoms: the suit of Bohemia, the suit of France, the suit of Germany and the suit of Hungary. Each suit has 12 cards depicting different court functions during the late Middle Ages and a number. Shown here:

- top left: suit of Hungary, Küchenmeister (= master chef), (seven)

- top right: suit of France, Marschalk (marshal), (nine)

- bottom left: suit of Germany: renner (= runner), (three)

- bottom right: suit of Bohemia: Hofmeister (= steward), (ten)

The rules for the playing card are unknown. Woodcuts from 1455.