The Battle Against the Blue Company (1512–1518): Art, History and Details

The Battle Against the Blue Company (1512–1518) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Leonhard Beck (German, c. 1480–1542).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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. Der Weisskunig is one of several major print projects sponsored by the emperor and executed by a legion of advisors, authors, designers, and craftsmen.

Object facts

• Title: The Battle Against the Blue Company
• Date: 1512–1518
• Creator attribution: Leonhard Beck (German, c. 1480–1542)
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Print
• Technique: woodcut
• Collection: PR - Woodcut
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1960.34

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Richards, Louise. "Woodcuts from 'Der Weisskunig.'" The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 47, no. 7 (September 1960): 166-172.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.