Lot 602
Single Leaf of Hartmann Schedel 's Book – The Murder of the Child Simon of Trent, 1493
Single leaf of Hartmann Schedel's book, Weltchronik (Nuremberg Chronicle), Nuremberg, 1493. Illustration of Jews torturing the child Simon of Trent.
On March 23 1475 a Christian two and a half years old child by the name of Simon disappeared from his parents' home in Trent in north Italy; three days later, on the eve of Good Friday (the day of Jesus Christ's crucifixion), his body was found near the home (or in its cellar or its well) of a Jew who was a resident of the city, a money lender by the name of Shmuel.
After the body was found the Bishop announced that all of Trent Jewish community, including a few converted Jews, is guilty of the murder of the child. All the Jews of the city were arrested, tortured and some executed by fire or decapitated. Simon was declared a saint by the pope, and his memory was mentioned every year in the month of March, until his status as a saint was cancelled in 1965. Leaf 36 cm. Frame: 43X53 cm. Good condition. Minor tears at borders. Not examined out of frame.
