Das funft alter Mantua

Title

Das funft alter Mantua

View shows the city of Mantua, Italian Mantova, in Lombardy, two poets on the obverse and three bishops on the reverse.

ca. 1493

Artist

Schedel (1440-1515)

Hartmann Schedel (1440–1515) from Nuremberg is best known for the 1493 publication of the Schedel’s World Chronicle (Liber chronicarum), a universal history featuring 1,809 woodcuts—making it the most richly illustrated book of early printing. The chronicle, written in Latin by Schedel for merchants Sebald Schreyer and Sebastian Kammermeister, was translated into German by Georg Alt and printed by Anton Koberger. The illustrations came from the workshop of Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. The work covers world history up to 1492/93, divided into eight ages of the world, and draws on numerous sources, including Jacobus Foresta and Enea Silvio Piccolomini. Notably, it features highly accurate city views, many depicted in detail for the first time. Pleydenwurff introduced a new perspective by portraying cities from a fixed viewpoint, emphasizing their unique architectural and landscape features. The project was funded in part by the patron Sebald Schreyer.

Historical Description

Mantua was founded by the Etruscans, for its mythical founding story is named the Greek seeress Manto. In 804 the Roman Catholic bishopric of Mantua was founded. Since 1328 the noble family of the Gonzaga ruled there, who were raised by the Roman-German emperors to counts in 1362, to margraves (Marchesi) in 1433 and to dukes in 1530. In 1536, Emperor Charles V also granted the Gonzaga, as a loyal ally, the rule over the important margraviate of Monferrato on the often contested French-Italian border. For a time, they thus rose to become one of the most important dynasties of princes in Italy. The extinction of the main Mantuan Gonzaga line in 1627 triggered the War of the Mantuan Succession between France and the Habsburgs over the strategically important duchy, which abruptly ended the economic and cultural prosperity of the country. In 1631, the Habsburg emperor had to recognize the French succession candidates, the dukes of Gonzaga-Nevers, as the new rulers of Mantua. Since they were again on the French side against Austria in the War of the Spanish Succession from 1701, the emperor deposed them in 1708; Mantua was since then a direct part of the Habsburg Empire. During the Coalition Wars, the city, which had been part of the Habsburg Duchy of Milan since 1745, was fought over several times. Napoleon was able to capture Mantua after a month-long siege in early 1797, but it was lost again as early as 1799. In 1814 Mantua became Austrian again and only in 1866, as a result of the German War, did it become part of Italy.