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Rare woodcut of Imperator Julius
Caesar seated in front of the city of Rome.
Caesar is represented by a contemporary ruler wearing a crown and heavy armour.
Judging from the banner with the double-headed eagle suspended from his chair
this is a member of the Habsburg lineage.
The coat of arms with lions and lozenges in front of the ruler's feet is
attested to the Dukes of Bavaria.
The view of Rome is based on the woodcut in the Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493. The
template there was transferred directly, which is why the city of Rome appears
mirror-inverted.
The view of the Eternal City shows the Victory Column, the Pantheon and the
Colosseum - on the other side of the river the Mausoleum of Hadrian, St. Peter's
Basilica (still Romanesque), the Papal Palace and various city walls.
The back side with the cut picture of Octavianus Augustus and a vignette of the
emperor Claudius.
The present print is rare and was first used in the 1588 edition of Münster's
Cosmography.
Sebastian Münster (1488-1552) was a cosmographer and professor of Hebrew who
taught at Tübingen, Heidelberg, and Basel.
Beautiful late Gothic style for the city, the human figures in early Baroque
style.
Laid paper, woodcut
Basle, edition of 1588 AD
18 cm (7.1 in), 15.3 cm (6 in)
Print slightly faded. Paper lightly browned, woodcut trimmed along the frame,
few tiny holes.
280 USD
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