Hartmann Schedel / Wohlgemut / Pleydenwurff / Durer - The Nuremberg Chronicle (Liber Chronicarum) - Pipino il Breve e Successione dei Papi (Folium CLXV) - 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 the early history of printing. The text was written 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 is part of the section titled "Sexta etas mundi", dedicated to the Christian era, and documents the crucial 8th century, closely linking the rise of the Carolingian dynasty in France with the alternating and complex fortunes of the popes in Rome under Lombard threat. The front of the sheet (Foliu[m] CLXV) opens at the top left with the woodcut portrait of Pepin the Short (Pipinus rex), king of the Franks and father of Charlemagne. The Latin text describes in detail his consecration by Pope Stephen II, the deposition of the last Merovingian king Childeric III, and his victorious campaigns against the Lombards in defense of the Church. In the central section stands out a woodcut entitled "Origo gentis turcorum" which narrates in medieval historiographic terms the origins of the Turkish people and the ancient migrations in Asia Minor. The lower part is completed by the biography and portrait of Saint Eucherius (S. Eucherius), bishop of Lyon, celebrated for his ascetic life and his miracles. The back of the sheet continues the narrative of the sixth age of the world, focusing on the chronology of the popes, highlighted in the upper right by the woodcut label "Linea summorum pontificum". The column is adorned with the solemn portraits of three key popes of the 8th century: the antipope Constantine II (Constantinus secundus), described in the events of his illegitimate and tumultuous election; Pope Stephen III (Stephanus tercius), who sought to restore doctrinal and political order in the Church; and finally Pope Adrian I (Adrianus primus), one of the longest and most significant pontificates of the era, characterized by the decisive alliance with Charlemagne, the final defeat of the Lombard king Desiderius, and the great monumental and defensive restoration work of the city of Rome. Dimensions 42 x 30 cm It will be shipped by courier.