Hartmann Schedel / Wohlgemut / Pleydenwurff / Durer - The Nuremberg Chronicle (Liber Chronicarum) - L'Altare degli Olocausti, gli Arredi Sacri e il - 1493

This original sheet is an incunabulum from 1493, originating from the Liber Chronicarum, also known as the Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the most celebrated and monumental works in the early history of printing. The text was written by the German humanist Hartmann Schedel, printed by the famous publisher Anton Koberger in Nuremberg in the celebrated and sought-after original Latin version, and illustrated with woodcuts from the workshop of Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. The page is part of the section titled "Tercia etas mundi", dedicated to the third age of the world. The text masterfully wove together the liturgical prescriptions and ceremonial decrees delivered by God to Moses in the desert, focusing on the fabrication of the Tabernacle furnishings, the vestments of the high priest Aaron, and the historical exegetical interpretations of the Ten Commandments.

The front of the leaf (which bears at the top right the woodcut pagination Folio XXXIII) opens under the heading Tercia etas mundi with two aquarelle woodcuts that compare the structure of the altar of sacrifices according to different doctrinal visions: on the left the altar according to Catholic exegesis (Altare holocausti scdm latinos) and on the right according to Jewish tradition (Altare holocausti scdm hebreos). Under them, a dense Gothic column describes the ordination of the priests of the tribe of Levi and Aaron’s vestments, detailing the use of bisso, the tiara, and the rationale with the twelve precious stones symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel. In the center of the façade stand two splendid figured illustrations: the basin of bronze for the ritual ablutions of the priests (Vas lavatorii) supported by two lions and, on the right, the figure of the high priest dressed in his sacred vestments (Figura sũmi sacerdotis cũ suis vestibz), while he solemnly blesses with the tiara on his head.

Turning the page, the back (also bearing at the top the heading Tercia etas mundi) shifts the focus to the portable architecture of the Desert Tabernacle and to Mosaic law. At the top, the text describes in minute detail the measurements and framework of God’s mobile dwelling, accompanied by technical diagrams showing the planks of grooved timber laid side by side, the bases of silver, and the mortise joints (Figura pro tabulis et basibus terre infigendis). In the right margin of the page stand two famous centered woodcuts illustrating the Tables of the Law: the upper one shows the distribution of the Ten Commandments according to the tradition of the Fathers of the Roman Church (Figura tabularum scdm doctores alios), while the lower one depicts its textual division according to Jewish commentators (Figura tabularum scdm doctores hebreos). At the bottom, the text in Gothic resumes the first year of the Exodus, the stay on Mount Sinai, and the episode in which Moses shattered the original tablets at the sight of the golden calf.

Dimensions 39 x 29 cm
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