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

This original leaf is an incunabulum from 1493 originating from the Liber Chronicarum, also known as the Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the most celebrated and monumental works in the early history of printing. The text was drafted by the German humanist Hartmann Schedel, printed by the famous publisher Anton Koberger in Nuremberg, and illustrated with woodcuts from the workshop of Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. The page is part of the section titled "Sexta etas mundi," dedicated to the Christian era. Through a narrative that intertwines sacred and profane history, the leaf places in parallel the lives of important saintly hermits and missionaries of the early Middle Ages in Western Europe with the dynastic succession and the turbulent fortunes of the rulers and emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) between the 7th and 8th centuries. The front of the leaf shifts the focus to the diffusion of Christianity and late antique monasticism. The page is enriched by three finely detailed woodcut portraits. The first, at the top left, depicts Abbot Egidius (Egidius abbas), a famous hermit and saint of Athenian origin who lived in southern France. Further down, on the right side, stands the solemn portrait of Archbishop Boniface (Bonifacius archiepiscopus), known as the Apostle to the Germans for his fundamental work of evangelizing the Germanic peoples. At the bottom of the page, a three-figure woodcut portrays the Martyr Saints Kilian, Colman, and Totnan (S. Kolonat, S. Kilian, S. Totnan), itinerant Irish missionaries who suffered martyrdom in Würzburg, Franconia. The Latin text describes in detail their biographies, their miracles, and the important role they played in the conversion and ecclesiastical organization of Central-Northern Europe. The back of the leaf (Foli[m] CLXI) shifts the focus, however, to the political history of the Byzantine Empire, highlighted at the top right by the woodcut caption "Line of the Emperors." The right column hosts four solemn portraits in regal attire that depict in vertical order the successive emperors of Constantinople: Philippicus (Philippicus), Anastasius (Anastasius), Theodosius III (Theodosius tercius), and Leo III (Leo tercius). The text describes in detail their brief and unstable reigns, marked by violent usurpations, fierce internal dynastic struggles, and religious tensions connected with early doctrinal disputes in Byzantium. It also narrates external threats weighing on the empire, including the devastating and repeated incursions of the Saracens and Bulgars, which reached the point of besieging Constantinople itself, forcing the rulers to difficult diplomatic and military maneuvers. Dimensions 42 x 30 cm Will be shipped by courier

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