Hartmann Schedel / Wohlgemut / Pleydenwurff / Durer - The...

This original sheet is an incunabulum from 1493, originating from the Liber Chronicarum, also known as the Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the most famous and monumental works of the early history of printing. The text was drafted by the German humanist Hartmann Schedel, printed by the renowned publisher Anton Koberger in Nuremberg, and illustrated with woodcuts from the workshop of Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. The page belongs to the section titled "Sexta etas mundi," dedicated to the Christian era. The text masterfully interweaves the biographies of the highest doctrinal peaks of Catholicism with the complex dynastic turns of the Roman Empire and the great testimonies of faith aimed at reorganizing the Church and its relations with the East. The front of the sheet unfolds as a monumental catalog of saints and martyrs of the early centuries, celebrated for their miracles and for their steadfastness in the face of punishments ordered by pagan emperors. The right-hand column hosts the vertical, magnificently hand-colored portraits of historic figures of Christian devotion: at the opening stands Saint George (Georgius), noble tribune of Cappadocia famed for liberating an entire city by slaying a monstrous dragon before his martyrdom; followed by Saint Erasmus (Erasmus), bishop of Antioch tormented with molten lead and boiling pitch; the renowned medical martyrs Cosmas and Damian (Cosmas & Damianus), beheaded after surviving flames and seas; Saint Methodius (Methodius), learned bishop of Tyre; the Roman martyrs Marcus and Marcellianus (Marcus & Marcellianus), pierced by lances under Diocletian; and finally the saints Gorgonio (Gorgonius), Crispophorus (Cristoferus), Dorotheo (Dorotheus), Massimo and Claudio (Maximus & Claudius). To the left of the text unfolds a dense column of sacred chronicle describing the individual sufferings and the prodigious virtues of these spiritual pinnacles, a devotional phenomenon that spread dramatically throughout Europe, marking 15th-century piety. Turning the page, the back (bearing the engraved number at the top right, CXXIII) shifts attention to the great defenders of Western Christendom and to the foremost martyrial authorities of Diocletian’s era, under the engraving heading Sexta etas mundi. The left-hand column hosts the vertical, animated portraits of five cornerstones of Christian hagiography: Saint Maurice (Mauricius), commander of the famous and heroic Theban Legion entirely decimated in Gaul for refusing to persecute Christians; Deacon Saint Vincent (Vincentius), a distinguished Spanish Levite who with invincible constancy endured the torments of the burning grate; the young Roman virgin Saint Agnes (Sancta Agnes), led to a brothel where she was protected by an angel before suffering martyrdom by the sword; Deacon Saint Cyriacus (Liriacus), who freed Diocletian’s daughter from a demon; and the Milanese saints Gervasius and Protasius (Gervasius & Protasius), whose incorrupt bodies were later miraculously discovered by Saint Ambrose. The lower part of the page contains detailed descriptions of their earthly sufferings and the spiritual reforms arising around their burials, offering 15th-century scholars a universal guide to understanding the morality and the changes of the peoples of the Earth through the ages. Dimensions 42 x 31 cm Will be shipped by courier

Estimation:€250

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