CC BY 4.0
Hans Holbein der Jüngere
Printing block for the New City Charter, 1519
About the object
The city commissioned humanist and celebrated lawyer Ulrich Zasius to rewrite the municipal law in 1502. It was printed by Adam Petry in Basle in the year 1520 and is regarded as a legislative masterpiece. Hans Holbein the Younger created three wooden blocks for the title pages in 1519 on behalf of the city. Two of them were used in the print.
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The famous lawyer Ulrich Zasius belonged to the circle of humanists who taught at the Albertina in Freiburg and whose ideas were widely disseminated through their books. The City of Freiburg council commissioned Zasius to rewrite its charter, which was printed by Adam Petry in Basel in 1520. In 1519 and on behalf of the City of Freiburg, Hans Holbein the Younger created the templates for three wooden printing blocks for the title pages of the New City Charter, two of which were used for the book and have been preserved. They show the title page with Freiburg's coat of arms supported by lions, Our Lady between the patron saints of Freiburg, St. Lambert and St.George. A third printing block, which only survives as a print and displays the respective coats of arms of Freiburg and the House of Austria supported by boys in a highly ornate Renaissance frame, was not used.