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

[Victrix]

Interesting pictures 9 and 10 which presumably show Abraham about to sacrifice his child and stopped by an angel. The angel is represented not with wings but in a cloud. It brings to mind the symbol of the swordarm in the cloud which sometimes appears on 17thC blades and banners. It seems to represent the sword of God or possibly Saint Michael.

[M ELEY]

Absolutely incredible reference material from this time period, Shayde! Thank you so very much for posting it! It is not only a monstrously important volume due to its historical reference, but also an incredible work of art! I am fascinated (and, at times, shocked!) by the graphics being depicted. The army riding their horses through a sea of blood on the battlefield certainly sticks with me!

[Mel H]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

Absolutely incredible reference material from this time period, Shayde! Thank you so very much for posting it! It is not only a monstrously important volume due to its historical reference, but also an incredible work of art! I am fascinated (and, at times, shocked!) by the graphics being depicted. The army riding their horses through a sea of blood on the battlefield certainly sticks with me!

While I would agree that there is a lot of savagery included there, I think that the 'blood' is probably intended to be the Waves of the Red Sea, closing on the pursuers, after being parted by Moses.

[shayde78]

Originally Posted by Mel H

While I would agree that there is a lot of savagery included there, I think that the 'blood' is probably intended to be the Waves of the Red Sea, closing on the pursuers, after being parted by Moses.

Quite right, Mel!

[M ELEY]

Of course!! Forgot my Old Testament for a minute there!

[Ian]

Shayde78,

Excellent source material, and I agree with previous commenters that this is of important historical context. I'm wondering if someone might eventually take your pictures, crop, edit the contrast etc, rotate (as necessary), and put them up as a PDF compendium. Perhaps the owner of this site, Dr Lee Jones, might then include the PDF file on one of the static pages where they could be found easily. Just a thought.

Ian

[Philip]

Originally Posted by Mel H

While I would agree that there is a lot of savagery included there, I think that the 'blood' is probably intended to be the Waves of the Red Sea, closing on the pursuers, after being parted by Moses.

The text clarifies things, and it was quite clever of the artist to paint the Red Sea the appropriate color -- after all this work probably had a didactic purpose, to teach Bible stories in a simple and straightforward way in an era in which the level of literacy was not high. In the same way that stained glass windows in churches often presented some of the same narratives in a medium and on a scale more appropriate to large public spaces.

It's fortunate for the arms and armor researchers of later times that the medieval and Renaissance artists were in the habit of depicting Biblical characters in the style of their own eras, rather than going for an archaistic approach. Appropriate, since with the exception of ancient statues, the body of available archaeological material was much more limited than that discovered from the 18th cent. until today. Considering the contemporaneous nature of the depictions, representations in art are an invaluable help to us today in determining a chronological and ofttimes geographical context to surviving objects.

[Mel H]

Originally Posted by Philip

The text clarifies things, and it was quite clever of the artist to paint the Red Sea the appropriate color -- after all this work probably had a didactic purpose, to teach Bible stories in a simple and straightforward way in an era in which the level of literacy was not high. In the same way that stained glass windows in churches often presented some of the same narratives in a medium and on a scale more appropriate to large public spaces.

It's fortunate for the arms and armor researchers of later times that the medieval and Renaissance artists were in the habit of depicting Biblical characters in the style of their own eras, rather than going for an archaistic approach. Appropriate, since with the exception of ancient statues, the body of available archaeological material was much more limited than that discovered from the 18th cent. until today. Considering the contemporaneous nature of the depictions, representations in art are an invaluable help to us today in determining a chronological and ofttimes geographical context to surviving objects.

I learned a little German many years since and can sometimes pick my way through text, I was a little surprised at the clarity / readability of the 15th, C. 'gothic' script used in this document, when compared with the later gothic found in German books of the late 19th, C. which seems to have become deliberately over complicated with the passage of time.

[shayde78]

Thank you everyone for the positive feedback.

Apologies for the delay, and for the rotated orientation of some of the images. When I post them from my laptop, they appear right-side-up. However, when I look at this thread on my phone or tablet, the orientation is rotated.

I am entirely agreeable to Ian's suggestion, and am happy to send the images to a moderator in PDF format to be posted a single reference. Whoever would like the task, PM me and we can figure it out.

I'll post the remaining images in sets below.

Again, I am keeping these in the order that hey appear in the text. If anyone wants to pull out specific images to discuss, feel free once I'm done posting.

All told, there are about 70 images (my initial count was off as I had some duplicate pictures and some I noticed upon closer inspection were of flag poles, vs. spears, and the like).

Oh, the fifth picture of this post contains an image of fortifications outside the main gate of a city/town. I included because I'm curious what is being represented. Not quite an edged weapon...but related, right?

The ninth picture is the one with the executioner swinging a two-handed sword that may depict a blunt tip. Again, this could just be a fault in the engraving, but the fact that such swords were often rebated caused me to make note of this

The last picture of this set shows utilitarian knives of the era. In researching this image, I believe the saint (sorry, I cut off his full portrait) is one associated with leather workers and bookbinders. Often, this saint was depicted with a flayed hide, sometimes a human hide. Grisly, but such was life at this time.