The Pilgrimage of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In the Late Middle Ages, Christian devotional literature was booming. Believers wanted to live out their piety privately and be able to connect with their venerated saints at any time. In many cases, this involved deeply immersing themselves in the lives and sufferings of the venerated figures – such as the Virgin Mary – through contemplation. For this purpose, the Itinerarium seu peregrinatio beatae virginis Mariae was created, whose author remains anonymous to this day. Readers could use it to meditate on the life of Mary in seven steps in the form of devotional prayers written in the first person, thus coming closer to the mother of Christ. The prolific Basel-based xylograph and printer Lienhart Ysenhut published not only the original Latin version, but also an Early New High German translation of the popular work, which was published in 1489 under the title Wallfahrt oder Pilgerung unser lieben Frauen (Itinerary or Pilgrimage of Our Dear Lady). He illustrated it with 59 large to full-page woodcuts of masterful quality, which visually accompany the meditations.