MISENA HERMUNDURORUM URBS.
€175
- Cartographer
- Sebastian Münster
- Date
- 1588
- Publication
- Cosmographia Universalis · Basel, Sebastian Petri (Henricpetri)
- Subject
- Meissen, Germany
- Condition
- Photographs show paper discolouration, foxing, folds and edge wear.
- Availability
- In stock. Subject to availability.
About this piece
Misena Hermundurorum Urbs presents Meissen above the Elbe in a hand-coloured woodcut from the 1588 German edition of Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia, published in Basel by Sebastian Petri. The town climbs from the water to the hills, where towers and large buildings mark the ridge. A broad green title ribbon stretches across the sky between two coats of arms.
The view rewards close reading, from the boat in the foreground to the small buildings stepping up the slopes. A key below the image and columns of German letterpress are part of the original layout. The reverse offers another coloured view alongside the text and a large German heading for Meissen, giving this leaf two different ways of looking at the landscape.
The hand colouring picks out blue water, green hills and roofs in warm red. The paper shows the middle fold, paper discolouration, scattered spotting and some edge wear.