Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) - Cosmographia Universalis - Pastore e schiavitu' sotto i Turchi - 1550

This original sheet is a precious Renaissance page 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 IIII in the final section titled De Turcis. The text and the related woodcut document the harshest conditions of Christians who fell into slavery under the Ottoman Empire, described in the chapter Quibus oneribus graventur Christianorum provinciae a Turca subiectae (Cap. LXXXII). The narrative delves into the desperate escape attempts of the prisoners across Europe; the text describes how the fugitives, exhausted by hunger and forced to feed on wild herbs, risk their fortunes by attacking local shepherds at night to steal their means of subsistence. This dramatic dynamic is illustrated by a woodcut that shows a shepherd with his flock of sheep intent on defending his animals. The chronicle ends by examining the merciless punishments reserved for those who were captured and handed back to their former masters (Poena fugitivorum), which included flogging at the feet and subjugation to heavy iron collars, sealing the formal end of the fourth book (Finis libri quarti).

Dimensions 30 x 20 cm
Verrà spedito per mezzo di corriere