The Tournament with lances (1509): Art, History and Details

The Tournament with lances (1509) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Lucas Cranach (German, 1472–1553).

The work and its context

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

Group engagements fought between two teams of contestants gained favor during the 1500s. These mêlées were often confused and chaotic, as shown in this woodcut. Lucas Cranach the Elder sketched many tournament scenes, often transferring them in faithful detail to woodblocks.

Object facts

• Title: The Tournament with lances
• Date: 1509
• Creator attribution: Lucas Cranach (German, 1472–1553)
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Print
• Technique: woodcut
• Dimensions: Sheet: 29 x 41.6 cm (11 7/16 x 16 3/8 in.)
• Collection: PR - Woodcut
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1927.204

A detail from the museum

While the tilt was the most popular type of jousting in the 1500s, the mêlée remained in favor and often formed the climax of the greatest tournaments.

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Parsse, Leona. "Prints by Lucas Cranach the Elder in the Museum Collection." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 24, no. 2 (February 1937): 19-23.

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.