Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) - Cosmographia Universalis - Vendemmia nel Vallese e Spedizione di Annibale sulle Alpi - 1550

This original page is a precious Renaissance sheet taken from the Latin edition of 1550 of Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia universalis, printed in Basel by the publisher Heinrich Petri and part of Liber III dedicated to Germany. The text and the related woodcut connect the great military ventures of classical antiquity to the geography and economy of the European Alpine regions. The narrative opens by retracing the legendary crossing of the Alps accomplished by the Carthaginian general under the chapter Quomodo Hannibal primus transcenderit huiusmodi glacies & canescentes vias (Cap. XLIIII), describing the audacity of his cohorts in breaking the frozen passes and the harsh climatic conditions celebrated also by Latin poets. The chronicle then extends to the hydrographic analysis of the Rhodanus (Rhodanus) river, describing its mountainous sources in Valais, the force of its foaming cascades among the rocky gorges and the ancient Alpine mines in which crystals (Crystallum) were extracted. The second part of the page formally introduces the section De fertilitate Valesiae (Cap. XLV), celebrating the extraordinary agricultural abundance of the Valais region, and it is splendidly illustrated by a woodcut showing peasants engaged in treading the grapes and in the harvest of the Vinum Sedunense wine, described as a dark, full-bodied red wine, alongside rich yields of wheat, saffron (crocus), figs and pomegranates.

Dimensions 30 x 20 cm
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