New set for Goethe's Faust II
"On the foothills"
General Faust and the battle of the ghosts
Faust as a general, Mephisto as a magician
In the scene "On the Foothills" of the fourth act of Goethe's Faust II, a massive battle rages between the imperial army and the rebellious troops of the counter-emperor. Faust and Mephisto once again rush to the Emperor's aid. They had already saved the empire in the first act of the drama by persuading the Emperor to print paper money. With Mephisto's diabolical magic powers and the Three Mighty Ones he conjured up - Raufebold, Habebald and Haltefest - the magical General-in-Chief Faust defeats the rebellious army. As a reward for his decisive contribution, Faust is knighted - as depicted in the most recently published pewter figure set "The Counter-Emperor's Tent" - and receives the seashore, where he can realize his great colonization project, as will be seen in the fifth act. Miniature painting of this figure Reihold Pfandzelter.
You can find more information about this tin figure set in the booklet.
The armored General Faust, the Emperor and Mephisto with his two ravens. Miniature painting by Philippe Fourquet. "What are these tiresome birds for?" asks the Emperor. "You have heard of pigeons that come from the farthest lands to breed and feed. Here it is, with important differences. Pigeon mail serves peace, war commands raven mail," replies Mephisto. And to the two raven scouts: "Sit very close to my ears. Whom you protect is not lost, for your counsel is right."
In Norse mythology, Hugin and Munin are the two ravens that accompany Odin, the god of warriors. They are his eyes and ears. Odin sends them out to explore the world and gather news.
Photo from the Viking World homepage.
The Three Mighty Ones. Miniature painting Philippe Fourquet
The Three Mighty Ones are irregular warriors conjured up by Mephisto. They will help to win the battle for the Emperor. In his stage directions, Goethe explicitly refers to the analogy with the biblical Three Nobles among King David's war heroes (2 Samuel 23:8-13). This reference is usually ignored in theatrical performances or pictorial representations of Faust and the Three Mighty Ones are depicted in Renaissance style. The Tin figures presented here depict Raufebold, Habebald and Haltefest as the biblical war heroes David, Benaiah and Shamgar. Benaiah was the captain of King David's elite troops. Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad. King David is known to have defeated the giant Goliath with his slingshot at a young age. The illustration shows the warrior Benaiah from the YouTube animation "Bible Warriors".
The portrait of Emperor Maximilian I by Peter Paul Rubens from 1618 served as the model for the armored ruler. Maximilian I was Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from February 4, 1508 until his death on January 12, 1519. The original painting can be viewed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
The set, packed in a high-quality cardboard box, includes 6 unpainted Tin figures in 30 mm size, a beautiful postcard as a painting template and an informative 8-page booklet with many illustrations. Illustrations by Sascha Lunyakov, engravings by Werner Otto.
This beautiful postcard as a painting template with the miniature painting by Philippe Fourquet is also part of the set.
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