In 1493, a remarkable team of artists, artisans, and entrepreneurs published "The Nuremberg Chronicle" in Latin and German editions. One of the key monuments in the history of early European book publishing, it was lavishly illustrated with 1600 woodcuts and presented an encyclopedic panorama of the world as it was understood a year after Columbus's voyage.
The Hamilton College copy of "The Nuremberg Chronicle" is the centerpiece of "Nuremberg 1493," an exhibition opening on Saturday, Feb. 28, and closing Sunday, April 11. The exhibition also features several other important early books from the Hamilton College Burke Library collection. Several related prints including some by Albrecht Dürer (who worked on the woodcuts for "The Nuremberg Chronicle" while an apprentice) are also in the show. In addition, the contemporary "Schwaz Nativity," currently on loan to the Emerson, suggests surprisingly close parallels between the styles and processes of woodcut printmaking and German limewood sculpture.
The exhibition's opening will be held between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28. At 3:30 p.m., co-curators, Professor of Art History John McEnroe and Edward Wheatley, Associate Professor of English, will present a talk and tour of the gallery. At 4:15 p.m. the Hamilton College Choir will sing medieval songs. On Wednesday, March 3 at 4:15, Wells College Professor Emerita of Art History Sheila Edmunds will present a lecture relating to the exhibition entitled "The Evolution of an Early German Printer."
The exhibition provides an intimate view of the art and scholarship that flourished in the bustling commercial center of Nuremberg on the threshold between Renaissance humanism and medieval tradition.
The exhibition is free and open to the public. The Emerson Gallery is located on the Hamilton College campus in Clinton, New York, in the Christian Johnson Hall directly behind the chapel. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. For information, call (315) 859-4396. Hamilton College is a one-hour drive east of Syracuse and a four-hour drive northwest of New York City.
