3 - German School, late 15th century – The Feeding of the Four Thousand

German School, late 15th century – The Feeding of the Four Thousand Description: The Feeding of the Four Thousand (Mark 8:1–9). A rare original hand-colored incunabula woodcut illustrating Christ addressing his disciples during the Feeding of the Four Thousand, printed within a leaf from a German Plenarium. Christ, with cruciform halo, stands at the center surrounded by the Apostles, while another figure approaches from the left. The accompanying German text contains the Gospel according to St Mark, chapter VIII, recounting how the multitude had remained with Christ for three days and how, after being miraculously fed, about four thousand people were dismissed. Original woodcut with early hand-coloring in red, green and yellow, printed together with Gothic letterpress text on recto and extensive contemporary text on verso. From a German Plenarium, a vernacular collection of the Gospel and Epistle readings for the liturgical year, of a type widely disseminated during the incunabula period. The woodcut and typography belong to the late fifteenth-century tradition; the woodcut is probably still 15th century and used in a late 15th- or very early 16th-century edition. Folio numbered “clxviii” at upper center. The type is most similar to editions printed in Augsburg, e.g. by Anton Sorg in the late 15th century. But I can not find this page in the editions, which are available in a digital version of the German libraries, Perhaps it is a fragment of an unknown edition. Dimensions: 8,20 x 6,20 cm, sheet 25,00 x 18,00 cm Condition: Very good impression on laid paper from the period, with good margins. Moderate time staining. Overall in very good condition. Medium: Woodcut Date: 15th century