Parisius / Tercia etas mundi Foliu XXXIX

Title

Parisius / Tercia etas mundi Foliu XXXIX

Description

Depiction of the city of Paris in France; the reverse side shows a crown, sceptre and orb twice. Printed by Anton Koberger in Nuremberg in 1493.

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

The ancient name of the city was Lutetia (also: Lutezia). Lutetia developed since the middle of the 3rd century BC from the Celtic settlement Lutetia of the Parisii tribe on the Seine island, which today is called île de la Cité. The city became known in the Roman Empire as Civitas Parisiorum or Parisia, but initially remained quite insignificant in occupied Gaul. In the 4th century, the present name of the city prevailed. In the 5th century, Roman rule was ended by the Merovingians. In 508 Paris became the capital of the Merovingian Empire under Clovis I (466-511). The Capetians made Paris the capital of France. Philip II. Augustus (1165-1223) had the city fortified. In 1190 a wall was built on the right bank of the Seine and in 1210 a rampart on the left bank. The Sorbonne in the south of Paris developed from several small schools.During the Huguenot Wars between 1562 and 1598, the city remained in Catholic possession. Thousands of Huguenots were murdered in Paris on the Night of St. Bartholomew in August 1572. At the instigation of Louis XIV (1638-1715), street lights were installed and the water supply was modernized. Paris remained the political center of France, due to its large population and its leading economic role in the country. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, it was the population of Paris that paved the way for the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the first French Republic. Paris hosted six world expositions in 1855, 1867, 1878, 1889, 1900 and 1937, which underlined the cultural and political importance of the city. During the Second Empire, under the Prefect of Paris Haussmann, major transformations of the city took place, which still characterize the cityscape today. Paris experienced an economic and cultural heyday during the Belle Époque period of the Third Republic before 1914. In 1921, Paris reached a population of around 2.9 million, the highest in its history to this day.