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Lot Essay
The Reformacion der Stat Nüremberg ('Reformation of the City of Nuremberg') contained the legal statutes of the city and was first printed in 1484. It is the oldest printed city legal code in Germany and became the model for many other German cities.
Dürer's woodcut served as the title page for two consecutive editions of the book printed in 1521 and 1522. As an allegory of the free Imperial city it is dominated by the Habsburg double-headed eagle and the Imperial crown. On either side two angels each hold the crown in the centre with one hand and one of the two coats of arms of the City of Nuremberg with the other. Divided by a band of clouds above, sit two allegorical figures, Justice with her sword and scales at left, and Caritas or Abundance at the right, with a flaming heart, pouring money from a purse.
The woodcut does not bear Dürer's monogram but has been attributed to him on stylistic grounds. The woodblock, marked on the reverse by the woodcutter Hieronymus Andreae, has survived and is in the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin.
Dürer's woodcut served as the title page for two consecutive editions of the book printed in 1521 and 1522. As an allegory of the free Imperial city it is dominated by the Habsburg double-headed eagle and the Imperial crown. On either side two angels each hold the crown in the centre with one hand and one of the two coats of arms of the City of Nuremberg with the other. Divided by a band of clouds above, sit two allegorical figures, Justice with her sword and scales at left, and Caritas or Abundance at the right, with a flaming heart, pouring money from a purse.
The woodcut does not bear Dürer's monogram but has been attributed to him on stylistic grounds. The woodblock, marked on the reverse by the woodcutter Hieronymus Andreae, has survived and is in the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin.