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The Mainz Merlon Mystery
- The Mainz Merlon Mystery
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The Mainz Merlon Mystery
Koen G > 20-08-2025, 03:17 PM
While making my video for VMD, I needed an illustration to show while I was talking about Mainz. So I googled something like "Mainz medieval", which led me to the following image:
It is the illustration of Mainz from the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., published in 1493. Obviously, the single front row of swallowtail merlons drew my attention. But this is where the mystery begins... Why does the Nuremberg Chronicle depict Mainz with swallowtail merlons?
As I see it, there are basically two options:
1) Mainz really had some swallowtail merlons at one point in its history (possibly post-VM given the 1493 date of publication).
2) This actually depicts a different city.
As the wiki writer notes, "illustrations depicted many never-before-illustrated major cities in Europe and the Near East. Six hundred and forty-five original woodcuts were used for the illustrations. As with other books of the period, many of the woodcuts, showing towns, battles or kings were used more than once in the book, with just the text labels changed. [...] sources were used where possible; where no information was available a number of stock images were used and reused up to eleven times."
So if this is not actually a portrait of Mainz, then which city did the woodcut originally depict? Was it based on some earlier image?
But also, Mainz was an important city with political and economic power, known for its advantageous location on the confluence of the Rhine and the Main rivers. Why did the artists, stationed in the not so far off Nuremberg, not depict it faithfully as they would have done with other German cities?
The general idea of a fortified city with a trading port suits Mainz well. But Marco believes that the boats in the engraving may represent naval vessels, which might hint at the geographical location of the original city.
Marco found You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., which indicates that this particular woodcut was indeed reused several times: I see Mainz, Naples, Aqiuleya, Bologna, Lyon.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is in northeast Italy, not too far from the sea.
Bologna is in north-central Italy, at a river but not the sea.
Naples is at the sea and might be a good contender for the original subject of the image... -
RE: The Mainz Merlon Mystery
Kendiyas > 20-08-2025, 04:12 PM
Here is what I found from the same chronicles this time it is Austria
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The website that is selling the page is giving this information:
Quote:The Latin text page with a description of Austria among a fanciful pictorial map of Austria (194 x 224mm.)
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., published the year that Columbus returned to Europe after discovering America. In May of 1493 appeared in the Latin language one of the earliest voluminous books, fully illustrated with 1809 woodcuts printed from 645 woodblocks.The woodblock cutters were Michael Wolgemut, the well-known teacher of Albrecht Dürer, and his stepson Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. Wohlgemut was Albrecht Dürer's tutor between 1486-90 and recent scholarship has shown, Albrecht Dürer may also have collaborated, since some of the cuts bear a remarkably close resemblance to the Apocalypse illustrations.The printing was carried out under the supervision of the great scholar-printer Anton Koberger, whose printing were famous throughout Europe
A opportunity to acquire a 15th-century book illustration by named artists.!
Reference: Morse Library, Beloit College.
Here is the seller’s page: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Edit: here is a reddit discussion I stumbled upon: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. -
RE: The Mainz Merlon Mystery
Kendiyas > 20-08-2025, 05:03 PM
Upon further research, I believe that the city depicted is an imaginary general depiction of a european city that does not exist but inspired by a combination of cities such as Lyon. To be used in depictions of many cities which cuts the costs and production time. The swallow tail merlons are added next to other merlon styles to make it suitable for more cities. Cheeky but that is my guess. -
RE: The Mainz Merlon Mystery
Jorge_Stolfi > 20-08-2025, 05:14 PM
The nearest building, a truncated pyramid with a crenellated platform at the top, is rather unusual, isn't it? Could it be a real identifiable landmark?
All the best, --jorge -
RE: The Mainz Merlon Mystery
bi3mw > 20-08-2025, 05:27 PM
(20-08-2025, 03:17 PM)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.2) This actually depicts a different city.
No, that's indeed Mainz as good as possible (see the headline):
Quote:In Medieval Latin, the name was shortened in the 6th century and henceforth written and pronounced “Moguntia” or “Magantia.” In the 7th century, the city name changed to “Mogancia,” “Magancia urbis,” or “Maguntia,” and in the 8th century to “Magontia.” In the 11th century, the name had returned to ‘Moguntiacum’ or “Moguntie.” In general, the city's name was often influenced not by actual linguistic development, but by the prevailing “fashion” of pronunciation. In the 12th century, the city was referred to as “Magonta,” “Maguntia,” “Magontie,” and “Maguntiam.”
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RE: The Mainz Merlon Mystery
nablator > 20-08-2025, 05:27 PM
Yes they reused illustrations a lot in printed books. -
RE: The Mainz Merlon Mystery
quimqu > 20-08-2025, 06:13 PM
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RE: The Mainz Merlon Mystery
bi3mw > 20-08-2025, 06:24 PM
I stand corrected, it doesn't necessarily have to be Mainz:
Nuremberg Chronicle:
Quote:The Latin edition comprises 656 pages, the German edition 596 pages. The work contains 1,809 woodcut illustrations from the workshop of Michael Wolgemut, which, however, originate from only 645 printing blocks, which is why the portraits in particular, but also the cityscapes, are sometimes repeated several times.
Mainz:
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Neapolis:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. -
RE: The Mainz Merlon Mystery
Koen G > 20-08-2025, 07:37 PM
(20-08-2025, 05:14 PM)Jorge_Stolfi Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The nearest building, a truncated pyramid with a crenellated platform at the top, is rather unusual, isn't it? Could it be a real identifiable landmark?
All the best, --jorge
It looks like some kind of cannon tower? It stands out, but may also be a rather dynamic part of the architecture depending on the amount of action it's seen. -
RE: The Mainz Merlon Mystery
Bernd > 20-08-2025, 11:39 PM
(20-08-2025, 05:03 PM)Kendiyas Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Upon further research, I believe that the city depicted is an imaginary general depiction of a european city that does not exist but inspired by a combination of cities such as Lyon. To be used in depictions of many cities which cuts the costs and production time. The swallow tail merlons are added next to other merlon styles to make it suitable for more cities. Cheeky but that is my guess.
Medieval AI slop. Looks like the entire chronicle was clickbait
Quote:The author of the text, Hartmann Schedel, was a medical doctor, humanist, and book collector. He earned a doctorate in medicine in Padua in 1466, then settled in Nuremberg to practice medicine and collect books. According to an inventory done in 1498, Schedel's personal library contained 370 manuscripts and 670 printed books. The author used passages from the classical and medieval works in this collection to compose the text of the chronicle. He borrowed most frequently from another humanist chronicle, the Supplementum Chronicarum by Giacomo Filippo Foresti of Bergamo. It has been estimated that about 90% of the text is pieced together from works on humanities, science, philosophy, and theology, while about 10% of the chronicle is Schedel's original composition.