Views of Cusco & Mexico City
€225
- Cartographer
- Sebastian Münster
- Date
- 1588
- Publication
- Cosmographia · Basel, Sebastian Petri (Henricpetri)
- Original title
- Die Statt Cusco/ in dem Königreich Peru in West Indien.
- Subject
- City views · Cusco, Peru; Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), Mexico
- Medium
- Double-sided woodcut leaf with contemporary hand colouring
- Woodcut dimensions (cm)
- 27 × 37.5
- Paper dimensions (cm)
- 35 × 41.8
- Condition
- Good. A few small spots and signs of use; middle fold with a small old restoration.
- Availability
- Subject to availability · Please enquire
About this piece
An original double-sided woodcut leaf from the 1588 German edition of Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia, published in Basel by Sebastian Petri. The two sides bring together Cusco, the historic Inca capital in the Andes, and Tenochtitlan, the Mexica capital on the site of present-day Mexico City. The sheet preserves its contemporary hand colouring.
On the Cusco side, streets and red-roofed buildings spread across a broad landscape, with hills framing the city. Turn the sheet over and the scene changes entirely. Tenochtitlan sits in a lake, with long causeways connecting the island city to the shore. The German letterpress and large decorative heading show how the views were presented to European readers of the Cosmographia.
The two woodcuts present different relationships between a city and its surroundings. Hills give depth to the view of Cusco, while the lake and causeways are essential to recognising Tenochtitlan. The pairing also gives a sense of how a German reader of the Cosmographia encountered the cities through short accounts and vividly compressed images.
The sheet is in good condition, with a few small spots and signs of use. There is a small old restoration at the middle fold. The woodcut measures 27 × 37.5 cm on a sheet of 35 × 41.8 cm. Subject to availability.