Nuremberg Chronicle; depictions of edged weapons from the late 15th Century

[shayde78]

Thanks Jim. High praise coming from anyone on here, you especially.

Two additional details I wanted to note, since we are seeing artists' renditions, it is important to consider their skills at reproducing what they saw in their day to day lives. The primary artists engaged in producing the illustrations for this Chronicle were Michael Wohlgemut (1434-1519) and his stepson Wilhelm Pleydenwurff (c. 1450-1494). They were well established artists in Nuremberg, producing not just woodcuts, but art in the round, such as sculptures and alters. That said, they had a certain apprentice in their workshop at the time this book was being illustrated, one Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). Dürer certainly became the more famous of the bunch, and he illustrated a very well regarded fechtbuch, so he ultimately displayed a good grasp of both weaponry, and how it was to be used. His actual contributions to this text are not fully known, but it is a point worth noting.

You can see some of the reuse of woodblocks - the last two pictures here, the use of the Amazon pictures earlier, the same pole arms being carried by a different group of horsemen. I'm sure these represent early efforts at industrialized efficiency for the printing business in its infancy.

Here's the next set, then, for real, I'm done for the day