"art for art's sake is just another piece of deodorised dog shit" ***

I didn't like most of the art presented to me so I decided to choose a piece from my favorite book in the whole wide world. The Nuremberg Chronicle. It's not English. Or from anywhere near the British Isles. Considered to be the pinnacle of Incunabula, the Nuremberg Chronicle was Published in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1493 by Hartmann Schedel, and Anton Koberger. Schedel, A noted bibliophile and scholar, pieced together the manuscript from various humanistic, philosophic, and scientific works. The Woodcuts, and engravings were done by the workshop of Michael Wolgemut, Nurnburg's leading artist at the time. A young Albrecht Durer (later known for such works as "The Large Turf", "The Hare, "Head of an Old Man", and "Bearded Saint in a Forest"), was apprenticed to Wolgemut's workshop. Therefore, a fair few of the woodcuts in the chronicle can be attributed to him.

The WORK:

Artist: The Workshop of Michael Wolgemut
Title:  Eine Juden Burbrennung, from page CCXX of the Nurnberg Chronicle
Date: 1492-1493
Medium: Printed Woodcut on Rag Vellum/ Parchment. Hand colored, from the Nurnberg Chronicle
Dimensions: Approximately 13 x 7 Cm

     This woodcut shows us the following: A bunch of burning jews. There is a man carrying a bundle of sticks, or, as the English would put it; "faggots". There are a few sticks on the ground at the man's left foot. This could be attributed to poor depth perception on the artist's part. The woodcut is presented in landscape fashion. Don't try attaching meaning to the color. The book would have been printed in black and white, and many of the extant volumes retain the black and white coloration. Color was added after, on demand of the patron to make it look pretty. The artist of the woodcut had no bearing on the coloration. Don't try coloring the curtains blue.
 
   The artist of this piece excecuted it like most book illustrations of the day: A straightforward interpretation. He does not try to attach symbolism to his work. The cut is crude and ill proportioned in its depiction of the event. As with most illustrations from this period, there is little to no attempt at depth perception, or artistic ratio. If we really wanted to stretch it, we could say that the Christians (man with logs) are on the right side of the work, making them in the right for their Jew burning.
 
  This piece was done as a part of the Nurnberg Chronicle of 1493. The Chronicle was authored by Hartmann Schedel and was published by Anton Koberger. It was published at the beginning of the German Renaissance of the Late 14- early 1500s. The work was published in Nuremberg Germany, hence the eponymous title. Nuremberg at this time was the center of the Renaissance in Germany, due to its thriving economy, and its relative closeness to the Italian states, and Hungary.

The Woodcut is approximately 13-7 Cm large, and it appears on page 220 of the Chronicle. The Leaf follows

The woodcut presents the burning of Jews for the alleged Host Desecrations (Destruction or defacing of Holy Figures, or items) in Deggendorf, Bavaria and Sternberg, Mecklenburg. Since the Incunabula was designed mostly as a Chronicle, the picture can be considered a relatively impartial depiction of an Historic Event. While images and portraiture sympathetic to the sufferings of the Biblical Jews and Christ were incredibly popular at this time, the Chronicle breaks away from this trend by displaying a more contemporary image of Jewish Persecution. The Chronicle is also more liberal in the sense that it depicts Christians as the perpetrators of the event. While Anti-Semitism was rampant at the time (with Isabella's Alhambra Decree having been issued in 1492 and systematic pogroms occuring every 25-50 years), cultural and artistic depictions of Jewish persecution were notedly absent from European culture. Therefore, the Chronicle is valuable in the fact that it is a reputable tally of this particular aspect of European Culture.

***- Chinua Achebe