Das Fünffte Buch – Kränich

Title

Das Fünffte Buch – Kränich

Description

Front side shows three scenes with storks and a depiction of an ant. Back side shows an illustration of pygmies (mythology) and one with strange locals of India.

ca. 1550

Artist

Münster (1489-1552)

Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) was a leading Renaissance cosmographer. His most famous work, the Cosmographia (1544), was a comprehensive description of the world with 24 maps, based on research dating back to 1528. Continuously revised, the 1550 edition already included many new maps. It was the first scientific yet accessible world description published in German, illustrated with numerous woodcuts by artists such as Hans Holbein the Younger. Between 1544 and 1650, the Cosmographia appeared in 46 editions (27 in German) and was translated into several languages. Münster’s work combined the knowledge of scholars, artists, and travelers and remained influential long after his death.

Historical Description

Birds (Aves) are a group of vertebrates. Like all terrestrial vertebrates (Tetrapoda), birds have two pairs of extremities, the front ones of which are transformed into wings. Plumage plays a major role in the overall appearance of birds: the body is covered in feathers. Most birds are able to fly. All flightless species have evolved from species that were originally able to fly. This applies, for example, to ratites, penguins and many island forms, such as the kiwi (New Zealand) and the stubby cormorant (Galapagos Islands). It is generally undisputed that birds come from the evolutionary line of reptiles. Crocodiles are considered to be their closest living relatives. Together, crocodiles and birds form the diapsid subgroup of the Archosauria.