The Battle Against the Blue Company
Leonhard Beck (German, c. 1480–1542)
1512–1518
Medium
woodcut
Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Accession Number
1960.34
Tags
male
About this artwork
This woodcut depicting a military campaign is an illustration for Der Weisskunig, or The White King, an autobiography of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (reigned 1486–1519). Written in German, the book takes the form of a courtly romance novel featuring armored knights. The hero, Maximilian, is the White King. The Blue King and his party represent France. Maximilian was the earliest Renaissance prince to extensively use printed images and texts to cultivate his authority and spread his ideology....