Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) - Cosmographia Universalis - Ossario di Morat (Murten) - Impiccato - 1550

This original sheet is a precious Renaissance page drawn from the 1550 Latin edition of Cosmographia universalis by Sebastian Münster, printed in Basel by the publisher Heinrich Petri and part of Liber III dedicated to Germany. The text and the related woodcuts document the dramatic and bloody late-medieval conflicts between the Swiss Confederates and the powerful Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold (Carolus). The narrative focuses in particular on the decisive phases of the famous Battle of Morat in 1476 (Pugna iuxta Murtam, Cap. CX), describing the defeat and the retreat of the Burgundian troops in the face of the Swiss and their allies’ surprise attack, an event illustrated by an expressive profile woodcut portrait of the Burgundian sovereign and by a stark war scene at the bottom of the page. The text goes on to analyze the military reverses suffered by Charles the Bold up to the subsequent and fatal Siege of Nancy (Obsidet Burgundus oppidum Nanfeum, Cap. CXI), recounting attempts at territorial reconquest, the strategic maneuvers along the rivers, and the tragic end of the duke which sealed the definitive collapse of the imperial dream of the Burgundy dynasty.

Dimensions 30 x 20 cm
Will be shipped by courier