Emperor Sigismund and the imperial heirlooms

After Sigismund had the imperial treasures moved from Hussite-threatened Bohemia to Nuremberg in 1423, the city sought various ways of advertising the glory invested in it as guardian of the imperial heirlooms. A woodcut of the holy objects was widespread in the 15th century, and the subject long recurred in diverse prints, painting, and medals. The exhibited pamphlet also features a figure of the Emperor apparently derived from a painting by Dürer. The Emperor is wearing his coronation robes, with the imperial crown on his head and the sceptre and imperial sword in his hands, surrounded by the tip of St Maurice’s lance, the imperial cross and the orb. On the stone tablet occupying the lower half of the picture, the arms of Nuremberg appear on each side of the imperial arms, and of course the Latin text also mentions the exalted standing of the city.