Show all records
Click image for high resolution zoom or multiple image views.

    Artist

  • Wolgemut, Michael, 1434-1519

    Schedel, Hartmann, 1440-1514, Liber chronicarum, German

    • Title

  • The Burning of the Jews : Part of Schedels Weltchronik ; 1493

  • Physical Description

    Reproduction of a woodcut : ink on paper ; 5.5" x 10.1" (14 x 26 cm.)

  • Notes

    Accompanying text of book on reverse.

    The same illustration in a different context is used again in the book on the bottom of page 258a.

  • Summary

    Woodcut from the Nuremberg Chronicle (“Schedelsche Weltchronik”), 1493. Copy of the page’s upper part (page 231a in the original book).

    Jews are burned alive as punishment for the alleged host desecration in Deggendorf, Bavaria, in 1338: Heads and flames are emerging from a pyre, while a figure seen from the back adds logs to the fuel. - Text on top, “Das sechst alter”, refers to the book’s 6th chapter, “Das sechst alter der werlt” (The sixth age of the world).

  • Subject

    Antisemitism; Fire in art; Illustration of books; Fifteenth century

  • Medium

    Woodcuts; Prints; Reproductions

  • Accession Number

  • URL

Biographical/Historical Information

In 1338, local burghers and members of the gentry set fire to the houses of the Jewish quarter in Deggendorf and slaughtered the inhabitants. The killing spread to 21 other places in Bavaria. The slaughter of the Jews greatly benefited the impoverished townspeople, and a grand church was erected in place of the synagogue. Only at a later stage was the allegation of Host desecration made to justify the massacre of the Jews. Since the 15th century, relics of the supposed desecration were venerated in the church, and Deggendorf developed into a major place of pilgrimage in Germany.

Michael Wolgemut (1434 – 1519) was a German painter and printmaker who ran a large and important workshop in Nuremberg. He was a teacher of the young Albrecht Dürer. Woodcuts executed in Wolgemut's workshop were not necessarily created by him, personally. Michael Wolgemut's workshop provided more than 1000 woodcut illustrations to the book on world history by the German historian Hartmann Schedel, Liber Chronicarum (Book of Chronicles), later known as “Schedelsche Weltchronik” (Schedel's World Chronicle); Chapter VI describes the world’s history in the common era since the birth of Jesus.

Related Works in the LBI Catalog

Artists :

This will search DigiBaeck, a subset of the LBI Catalog concentrating on all of its digitized materials that are available online. The search will list all of LBI's digitized materials pertaining to this artist/creator, including artworks (those described in the Griffinger Portal and more), archival collections, photographs, rare books, and periodicals.

Reproductions and Permissions

We welcome fair use of this content. Please credit the Leo Baeck Institute in your citation. For usage policies and to request higher resolution images, see Reproductions and Permissions.

Citation

Wolgemut, Michael: The Burning of the Jews : Part of Schedels Weltchronik ; 1493, Leo Baeck Institute, 78.73.