"Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem." Handprinted depiction of the destruction of Jerusalem and first Temple by Nebuzaradan, commander of guard of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586 BCE. Second view of Jerusalem ever printed. From a Latin printing of the Nuremberg Chronicle, an illustrated history of the world told through stories in the Bible.
Place of origin: Germany
Audio transcript:
Examine this drawing of the city of Jerusalem from 1493. It is the second view of Jerusalem ever printed and shows its 586 BCE destruction by Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.This page comes from the Nuremberg Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel, a German cartographer, historian, physician, and humanist.
The Nuremberg Chronicle is an illustrated encyclopedia of world history, including historical events told through biblical paraphrase, also called “The Book of Chronicles” by Latin scholars or “Schedel’s World History” by German speakers. It is an example of an incunable, which is a material printed in Europe before 1500, so prior to widespread use of the printing press. The Nuremberg Chronicle is one of the first incunabuls with integrated illustrations. Its illustrations are particularly important because many of the maps are the first-ever published depictions of their respective cities and countries.