Buteo whose Opera geometrica (1554) begins with a treat-
ment of the shape and size of Noah’s Ark as an exercise in
geometry. Luca Valerio, in his De quadratura parabolae
(1606) did little more than survey the earlier work of
Archimedes. Other early attempts to develop analytical
geometry were made by Simon STEVINin his Statics (1586)
and by KEPLERin his Nova stereometria (1615); it re-
mained, however, for such later 17th-century scholars as
René Descartes and Isaac Newton to develop the subject.
While not, therefore, at the center of Renaissance
mathematics, classical geometry could still excite and
benefit scholars in other fields. Such artists as DÜRER, for
example, made a serious study of Euclid to gain a better
understanding of the principles of perspective and pro-
portion. Dürer, in fact, wrote two geometrical works: Un-
derweysung der Messung (1525), on constructions with
compass and ruler, and Vier Bücher von menschlicher Pro-
portion (1528), on human proportion. Similar interest was
shown in the subject by surveyors, astronomers, physi-
cists, and architects. Much of the astronomy of the heav-
ens and of the physics of motion was worked out by
Renaissance savants not in the observatory or laboratory
but at the drawing board, using purely geometrical tech-
niques. Thus, COPERNICUSin his De revolutionibus (1545)
could offer his work to the judgment of “learned math-
ematicians,” a view echoed by LEONARDO DA VINCIwho
opened his lost Trattato della pittura with the warning:
“Let no one who is not a mathematician read my works.”
George of Trebizond (c. 1395–1484) Cretan-born
teacher of Greek
His family came from Trebizond (Turkish: Trabzon) on the
Black Sea. Brought to Venice (1417) by the elder Ermolao
Barbaro, who employed him as a copyist and had him
taught Latin, he mastered the language so well that he be-
came a public teacher of Latin literature at Venice, Padua,
and Vicenza. Pope Eugenius IV used George’s knowledge
of Greek at the Council of Florence (1438) and subse-
quently appointed him apostolic secretary and professor
at Rome, which aroused the jealousy of Italian humanists.
George was a pioneer of Greek studies in Italy but his own
bad temper, expressed in his feud with BESSARION, who ac-
cused him of faulty translations of Aristotle (1464), and
the greater abilities of the scholars who came to Rome in
the papacy of Nicholas V eclipsed his fame. He died senile
and impoverished.
Gerard, John (1545–1612) English barber-surgeon and
gardener
Born in Nantwich, Gerard traveled abroad before settling
in London to pursue his medical career. In 1596 he pub-
lished a catalogue of the plants in his Holborn garden. His
Herball (1597; with woodcuts borrowed from Frankfurt)
and its revised version by Thomas Johnson (1633; with
new blocks taken from PLANTIN’s stock) had great influ-
ence during the next 150 years. It contains new observa-
tions on both wild and cultivated plants, combined with
descriptions drawing on the work of William TURNER,
Rembert DODOENS, and Matthias L’OBEL.
See also: HERBALSGerhaert van Leyden, Nicolaus (c. 1430–1473)
Netherlands sculptor
Born at Leyden, Gerhaert is first documented in 1462 as
executing the vigorously carved tomb of Archbishop von
Sierck in Trier. Between 1463 and 1467 he was in Stras-
bourg, after which he moved to Wiener Neustadt, where
he died. Assessment of Gerhaert’s development is rendered
difficult by the destruction of his early sculptures in
Holland and of his chief work, the high altarpiece of
Constance cathedral (1465–67). The latter, in particular,
was deeply influential upon south German sculptors.
Only three fragments survive from his sandstone portal
(c. 1464) for the new chancellery in Strasbourg. One of
these astonishingly realistic heads is probably a self-
portrait. Gerhaert’s best-known work is the sandstone
crucifix (1467) in Baden-Baden parish church. His last
years were spent working on the flamboyant and expres-
sive red marble tomb effigy of Frederick III in Vienna
cathedral. Gerhaert’s productions possess an entirely novel
dynamism and expansiveness combined with profound
characterization. The widespread diffusion of his style was
stimulated both by his extensive travels, from Holland to
Austria, and by numerous prints influenced by his work.Gerhard, Hubert (c. 1545–1620) Netherlands sculptor
One of the leading mannerist sculptors in Northern Eu-
rope, Gerhard was clearly influenced by his training in
Italy. For the earlier part of his career he worked mainly
for the FUGGER FAMILYin Augsburg (from 1581) and Duke
Wilhelm V of Bavaria in Munich (from 1584). His Augs-
burg commissions included the Augustus fountain
(erected in 1594 to celebrate the city’s centenary), which
first incorporated the newest Italian ideas into monumen-
tal German sculpture, and many figures and fittings for
Hans Fugger’s new castle at Kirchheim (1583–95), includ-
ing the courtyard fountain showing Mars and Venus em-
bracing. The first sculptor of note to work in Munich for
many years, he made sculptures for Wilhelm’s palace there
(the Residenz) and for the church of St. Michael which
Wilhelm was building for the Jesuits. After Wilhelm abdi-
cated (1597), Gerhard moved to the court of his successor,
Archduke Maximilian I, at Innsbruck.German language During the period 1350–1650 (the
Early New High German period) the foundations of mod-
ern German were laid. The language previously consisted
of regional spoken dialects with a standardized literary
language used for courtly poetry. Otherwise Latin was the
usual written language. The Early New High German pe-220088 GGeeoorrggee ooff TTrreebbiizzoonndd