1493 Folio XXVIII - Lacedemonia (City of Sparta)
DESCRIPTION
This illustrated leaf presents a woodcut view of Lacedemonia (Sparta) accompanied by portraits of classical and mythological figures drawn from ancient Greek tradition. The central image depicts the city as a fortified medieval town, while the surrounding text and illustrations introduce legendary rulers, gods, and heroes connected to early Greek history and mythology.
The City of Sparta
The principal woodcut portrays Sparta as a compact walled city with towers, gates, and steep-roofed buildings rising among hills and trees. As with many city views in the Nuremberg Chronicle, the image is largely imaginative, presenting an ancient place through the architectural language of fifteenth-century Europe. The Latin text above introduces the history of the Lacedaemonians, describing Sparta as a society famed for discipline and military training, where citizens were raised to pursue warfare and physical strength rather than comfort or luxury.
Classical Myth and Legendary Figures
Surrounding the text are small portrait woodcuts representing figures from classical mythology and early legendary history. On the left appear Minerva, goddess of wisdom and warfare; Prometheus, remembered for bringing fire to mankind; Atlas, condemned to bear the heavens; Apollo, patron of prophecy and the arts; and Jupiter, king of the gods. The accompanying Latin passages summarize their roles in ancient tradition, recounting stories familiar from classical literature.
The right margin presents a column of early rulers and legendary figures including Ammanites, Belocus, Baleus, Amicus, and Satirus, each depicted with royal attributes such as scepters, crowns, or globes of authority. Below the city view are additional mythological subjects including Bacchus, credited with introducing the cultivation of wine, and Danaus, associated with early Greek royal lineage. A larger vignette illustrates the Amazons, the legendary nation of warrior women said to have waged campaigns across Asia and Europe.
The Nuremberg Chronicle
This sheet comes from Hartmann Schedel’s Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the most celebrated illustrated books of the fifteenth century. Printed in 1493 by Anton Koberger, the work presents a universal history illustrated with hundreds of woodcuts produced in the workshop of Michael Wohlgemuth and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, where the young Albrecht Dürer likely assisted in their production. The Chronicle remains one of the most ambitious pictorial books of the early printed age.
CONDITION
1200 W. 35th Street #425 Chicago, IL 60609 | P: (312) 496 - 3622