Image: Colored woodcut town view of Florence

Description: Colored woodcut town view of Florence by Hartmann Schedel. From the Nuremberg Chronicle in Latin edition published in 1493. Leaf number LXXXVII. Printed in Nuremberg by Anton Koberger in 1493. Lyric explanation from FOLIO LXXXVI verso and LXXXVII recto "This special woodcut covers fully two-thirds of these two folios, and appears to have been based on other panoramic views of Florence of about the time of the Chronicle. Let us enter the city by way of the Arno in the flat bottom boat that is being piloted without passengers or cargo at the river mouth. The Arno flows off to the right and is spanned by a number of bridges. The city lies on either side of the river and is fortified with walls and turrets. In the center of the town is the great cathedral church and before it the famous Campanile of Giotto. The church, called Santa Maria del Fiore (but more popularly known as the Duomo), is the largest and most important of the numerous Florentine churches. It was founded in 1298, but the façade was not finished until the nineteenth century. In actuality, the famous Campanile of Giotto is close by; and the woodcutter has given us some suggestion at least of the Baptistery which was built in the thirteenth century, and adorned with the beautiful bronze doors of Ghiberti in the fifteenth century. The city is pictured as nestling at the foot of the Apennines, and in the distance, to the left, there is a suggestion of another city, probably Fiesole. Source: From the first English translation (in 2010) of Schedel's "Chronicles of Nurenberg" where he speaks of the history of Florence and where that magnificent illustration is found.
Title: Colored woodcut town view of Florence
Credit: Own work
Author: Bas van Hout
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
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