The oldest large-scale view of Rome from 1493
Alice Pettirosso The oldest large-scale view of Rome: a masterpiece from 1493
The history of Rome, the Eternal City, lives not only in its imposing monuments and documents handed down over the centuries, but also in the visual representations that allow us to travel through time. Among these, the oldest view of Rome, from 1493 , stands out, a true window on the past, contained in the famous "Nuremberg Chronicle" ( Liber Chronicarum ). Written by the scholar Hartmann Schedel and published in Nuremberg, a masterpiece that gives us one of the oldest glimpses of the city, revealing a medieval city ready to transform itself under the light of the Renaissance.
A singular work of ancient cartography
The veduta of 1493 is one of the first attempts to portray the eternal city in astonishing detail. It was an era in which cartography mixed symbolic and allegorical elements, offering a vision that was more artistic than realistic. It is not a map as we know it today, but a woodcut that combines precise architectural details with an idealized image of the city. A masterpiece that is part of a tradition of vedutas that visually narrated the power and history of Rome, already the beating heart of Europe.
A detailed but idealized vision
The view of Rome from 1493 stands out for its extraordinary wealth of detail. Iconic buildings such as the Colosseum, the Pantheon and St. Peter's Basilica – still in its early Christian guise, before its Renaissance transformation – emerge forcefully. The Aurelian Walls trace the city's boundaries, while the Tiber River winds through it with its ancient bridges. Yet many details are more suggestions than faithful topographical representations, and reflect the imagination of the time rather than the true conformation of the city.
The Nuremberg Chronicle: A Mirror of the Medieval World
The view of Rome is included in the "Nuremberg Chronicle" (Liber Chronicarum), an encyclopedic work published in 1493 by Hartmann Schedel, one of the most impressive publishing undertakings of the late Middle Ages. Written in Latin and German, the chronicle is enriched with woodcuts depicting biblical episodes, legends and the most important cities of the then known world. Schedel's aim was not only to tell the story of the world, but also to illustrate it with images that intertwined reality and myth, providing a vivid vision of the era.
A curious anecdote: the impact of news in Italy
After the publication of the "Nuremberg Chronicle", some Venetian merchants, impressed by the quality of the woodcuts, brought several copies of the work to the lagoon city. The copies quickly circulated among the Italian courts and academies, arousing wonder among the intellectuals of the time. It is said that a young Florentine artist, Lorenzo di Credi, studied the view of Rome for a long time , fascinated, imagining himself walking in a Renaissance Rome, transformed by new ideas, and bringing back to life the fallen monuments of ancient Roman glory. A symbolic episode of the perception of the world in the fifteenth century and of the sensitivity for the classical age.
A masterpiece of woodcut art
The engravings of the "Nuremberg Chronicle" are true masterpieces of 15th-century printing techniques. The view of Rome from 1493 shows the skill of the engravers of the time, capable of blending minute architectural details with an artistic vision that captures the essence of the city. Woodcuts allowed for the production of numerous copies of the iconographic view of Rome, making it accessible to a wide audience and allowing those who had never visited Italy to imagine it.
Rome in 1493: A Journey Between Past and Future
The view of Rome from 1493 is a fascinating bridge between the city's past and future. On the one hand, it shows a Rome still wrapped in the charm of its glorious imperial past, with its majestic ruins and its spiritual role as the seat of the papacy. On the other, it anticipates the cultural and architectural renaissance that would characterize the following decades, transforming Rome into one of the capitals of the Renaissance.
A treasure for historians and enthusiasts
The oldest view of Rome from 1493 is also a valuable source for historians and enthusiasts. It offers the opportunity to explore how the city was perceived at the end of the Middle Ages, allowing comparisons with previous and subsequent representations. It is a milestone in the history of cartography and publishing, and marks the transition from a symbolic vision of cities to a more realistic and detailed approach, which would then find full development in the following centuries.
Studying this view means immersing yourself in the Rome of over five centuries ago, and discovering which aspects contemporaries considered worthy of being represented. It is a journey through time that helps us understand the evolution of Rome and its crucial role in European history, both from a religious and cultural point of view.