Hartmann Schedel / Wohlgemut / Pleydenwurff / Durer - The Nuremberg Chronicle (Liber Chronicarum) - La Fine dei Templari e l'Imperatore Enrico VII (F. - 1493

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 early print history. The text was written by the German humanist Hartmann Schedel, printed by the renowned publisher Anton Koberger in Nuremga and illustrated with woodcuts from the workshop of Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. The page is part of the section titled "Sexta etas mundi", devoted to the Christian era, and documents crucial events and great figures of the 14th century, combining ecclesiastical chronicles, dynastic transitions, and astronomical events of the era. The back of the first sheet (Folium CCXXIIv) opens with a large famous woodcut depicting the dramatic suppression of the Order of the Knights Templar, titled in the text "Ordinis contemplariorum extinctio", retracing the charges laid out under the papacy of Clement V and the tragic fate of Grand Master Jacques de Molay. The central section is enriched by portraits and biographical sketches of eminent physicians, theologians, and philosophers of the time, among whom stand out the physician Rufinus, the commentator Trusiano, the Franciscan theologians Richard of Mediavilla (Richard of Middleton) and Gerardo of Mediavilla, together with James of Viterbo. At the bottom, a woodcut illustrates the close approach of a comet and other celestial prodigies that occurred in 1314, interpreted at the time as omens of the death of King Philip IV of France. The front of the following sheet (Folium CCXXIII) is dominated by the woodcut caption "Linea imperatorum" and presents the solemn portrait of Emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg (historically indicated in the text as Henricus octavus). The detailed narrative describes his ascent to the imperial throne, his famous descent into Italy to restore imperial authority and to pacify internal factions between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, his historic coronation in Rome in 1312 by the cardinals delegated by the Pope, and finally his sudden and premature demise at Buonconvento in 1313, which historiographical tradition contained in the text attributes to suspected poisoning via a consecrated host.

Dimensions 42 x 30 cm
Will be shipped by courier