Past Exhibition

Circa 1492

Art in the Age of Exploration
This print shows a medieval town surrounded by green trees and tall, jagged gray rocks. The horizon is high in the image, with a tan-colored sky meeting green rolling hills in the distance. Closest to us, there are clusters of buildings enclosed by stone walls, with tall bridges leading over a wide river in the bottom left. The roofs of the structures are painted in bright colors, predominantly red and blue, standing out against the natural greens of the surrounding foliage and the beige stone buildings. Winding tan roads lead through the town, passing by more structures with pointed towers. Larger castles and rock formations are in the background, with tall towers and turrets. There is a strip of blue at the very top of the sky, and above the top edge of the print is a line of text.
Hartmann Schedel, Michael Wolgemut, Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, Albrecht Dürer, Anonymous Artist, Anton Koberger, Liber Chronicarum (Nuremberg Chronicle), 1493, bound volume with letterpress text in Latin and 1,809 woodcuts with hand coloring printed from 645 different blocks on laid paper, Paul Mellon Collection, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1991.7.1

Details

  • Dates

    -

  • Locations

    East Building, Upper Level, West Bridge, Northwest, North Bridge, Northeast and Mezzanine, Northwest, North Terrace, Northeast
This print shows a medieval town surrounded by green trees and tall, jagged gray rocks. The horizon is high in the image, with a tan-colored sky meeting green rolling hills in the distance. Closest to us, there are clusters of buildings enclosed by stone walls, with tall bridges leading over a wide river in the bottom left. The roofs of the structures are painted in bright colors, predominantly red and blue, standing out against the natural greens of the surrounding foliage and the beige stone buildings. Winding tan roads lead through the town, passing by more structures with pointed towers. Larger castles and rock formations are in the background, with tall towers and turrets. There is a strip of blue at the very top of the sky, and above the top edge of the print is a line of text.
Hartmann Schedel, Michael Wolgemut, Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, Albrecht Dürer, Anonymous Artist, Anton Koberger, Liber Chronicarum (Nuremberg Chronicle), 1493, bound volume with letterpress text in Latin and 1,809 woodcuts with hand coloring printed from 645 different blocks on laid paper, Paul Mellon Collection, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1991.7.1

Overview: More than 600 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, maps, scientific instruments, and decorative arts objects were brought together from 5 continents. The exhibition was a survey of the world's visual culture around 1492. Some works were exhibited in rotation and were not shown for the duration of the entire exhibition. Works were arranged in 3 sections: Europe and the Mediterranean World (Portugal, Spain, Italy, other parts of Europe, West Africa, and the Islamic world); Toward Cathay (Japan, Korea, China, and India); and The Americas (Aztec, Inca, and other cultures from what are now the West Indies, southeast United States, Costa Rica, and Colombia). Free exhibition passes were distributed at the Gallery on a first-come, first-served basis. Exhibition hours were extended on Friday and Saturday evenings until 8 p.m.

Organization: Jay Levenson served as the curator for exhibition. Gaillard Ravenel and Mark Leithauser designed the exhibition, and Gordon Anson designed the lighting.

Sponsor: The exhibition was made possible by a global consortium of corporations who were equal partners: Ameritech; Nomura Securities Co., Ltd./Mitsui Taiyo Kobe Bank, Ltd.; and Republic National Bank of New York. The Rockefeller Foundation, Banco Exterior de España (Grupo CBE), and an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities provided additional support for the exhibition.

Film: Masters of Illusion, produced and directed by Harper Films, Inc. The film was made possible by Canon, U.S.A./Canon Inc. A version in high definition video format also was shown daily. The National Gallery's high definition system was made possible by the Sony Corporation of America.

Attendance: 568,192

Catalog: Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration, edited by Jay A. Levenson. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1991.

Brochure: Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration, by Jay A. Levenson. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1991.

Inside the Exhibition

Distinct Worlds room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Distinct Worlds room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Portugal room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Portugal room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Islam room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Islam room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Measuring and Mapping room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Measuring and Mapping room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Korea room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Korea room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Aztec room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Aztec room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Aztec room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Aztec room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Inca room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

Inca room in Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (October 12, 1991–January 12, 1992). National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives.

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