Quarta etas mudi

Title

Quarta etas mudi

Description

Representation of the Salomon Temple in Jerusalem, on reverse the city of Perugia

ca. 1495

Artist

Schedel (1440-1515)

Hartmann Schedel (1440 -1515) settled in Nuremberg 1484. He published the famous Nuremberg Chronicle 1493, Schedel's library has been sold in 1552 to Hans Jacob Fugger. Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle must have been one of the most popular of incunables, judging by the number of surviving copies. Some 800 copies of the Latin edition have been traced and 400 of the German. This is not surprising considering that this compilation of sacred and profaned history was the most elaborate printed book of its time, illustrated with more than 1800 woodcuts. Among these were a number of double-page city views, a folding map of the world and another of northern and central Europe. The text is an amalgam of legend, fancy and tradition interspersed with the occasional scientific fact or authentic piece of modern learning. Hartmann Schedel, a physician of Nuremberg, was the editor-in-chief; the printer was Anton Koberger, and among the designers the most famous were Michael Wolgemut and Hanns Pleydenwurff, masters of the Nuremberg workshop where Albrecht Durer served his apprenticeship. The first edition of the Nuremberg Chronicle in July 1493 was in Latin and there was a reprint with German text in December of the same year. World Map: His Ptolemaic world map with the figures simbolizing the three sons of Noah's: Sem, Ham and Jafet. The world map was included in the Chronicle of the Nuremberg physician, Hartmann Schedel to demonstrate the world after the Deluge. The hundreds of the woodcuts used for printing the illustrations of the famous German work were cut by Wolgemut and Pleydenwurff. The young Albrecht Dürer could contributed to the book as he apprenticed the Nuremberg printers. The panel to the left side, showing the monstrous races, is an illustration of the tales, fables and antique works, first of all Pliny the elder. Note that this panel is the best identification mark of our edition, there was another panel with the map of the 1493 edition.

Historical Description

One of the oldest cities in the world, Jerusalem was named as "Urusalima" on ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets, probably meaning "City of Shalem". During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice. The part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCEIn 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent. Today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarter. There is no evidence of a permanent settlement in the City of David area until the early Bronze Age . Many Jewish tombs from the Second Temple period have been rediscovered in Jerusalem. One example, discovered north of the Old City, contains human remains in an ossuary decorated with the Aramaic inscription "Simon the Temple Builder. In 1517, Jerusalem and environs fell to the Ottoman Turks, who generally remained in control until 1917 .Jerusalem enjoyed a prosperous period of renewal and peace under Suleiman the Magnificent – including the rebuilding of magnificent walls around the Old City. Throughout much of Ottoman rule, Jerusalem remained a provincial, if religiously important center, and did not straddle the main trade route between Damascus and Cairo. The English reference book Modern history or the present state of all nations, written in 1744, stated that "Jerusalem is still reckoned the capital city of Palestine, though much fallen from its ancient grandeaur". The Ottomans brought many innovations: modern postal systems run by the various consulates and regular stagecoach and carriage services were among the first signs of modernization in the city. In the mid 19th century, the Ottomans constructed the first paved road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and by 1892 the railroad had reached the city.