The Book Plate of Wilibald Pirckheimer 1485 - 1528

Albrecht Dürer's "The Book Plate of Wilibald Pirckheimer" is a woodcut bookplate created between 1485 and 1528. The design features a central shield with two coats of arms held by putti, surrounded by elaborate decorative motifs. The upper section depicts a wreath of grapes, a skull, and a figure of a crowned man with a sword. At the bottom, the inscription "Liber Bilibaldi Pirckheimer" identifies the owner of the bookplate, Wilibald Pirckheimer, a humanist scholar and close friend of Dürer. This bookplate is a prime example of the Renaissance interest in humanist thought and the use of personal heraldry.