Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) - Cosmographia Universalis - Città di Cesarea in Cappadocia - Battaglia Alessandro Magno - 1550

This original sheet is a precious Renaissance page drawn from the Latin edition of 1550 of Cosmographia universalis by Sebastian Münster, printed in Basel by the publisher Heinrich Petri and part of Liber V focused on the great Asian regions. The text and the accompanying illustration celebrate the glorious military exploits and territorial conquests of Alexander the Great against the Persian Empire of King Darius. The narrative traces chronologically the early armed clashes, the complex epistolary exchanges of taunt and submission between the two sovereigns, and the alternating fortunes of the Macedonian troops, detailing the subsequent and triumphant reception of Alexander in Jerusalem by the high priest (Alexander intra Ierosolymam), as well as the supplications of the conqueror’s mother and wife. The chronicle then moves to the geography of Lesser Armenia (Cap. XIII) and Cappadocia (Cap. XIIII), a province described as predominantly sandy and arid but rich in sacred history, and is visually enriched by an engraving showing the fortified view of the city of Caesarea (Mazaca Caesarea), historic metropolis of the region bordered by the Euphrates, celebrated in the text also for the the theological preaching of Saint Basil the Great and for the dramatic historical vicissitudes connected with the persecutions of Christians.

Dimensions 30 x 20 cm
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