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The Battle around the Shield and Lance

Etching of a dense group of plume-helmeted soldiers on foot and horseback engaged in battle.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Etching of a dense group of plume-helmeted soldiers on foot and horseback engaged in battle.

Date:

c. 1527

Artist:

Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio (Italian, 1500/05–1565)
after Raffaello Sanzio, called Raphael (Italian, 1483-1520)

About this artwork

Amidst the chaos of battle, a shield and lance rest quietly in the foreground. These icons of military prowess are surrounded by bucking horses, falling soldiers, and spears. It is ironic that Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio chose to depict the Romans as skilled cavalrymen, since the cavalry was the weakest part of the Roman army until the late Imperial Period (A.D. 3rd/4th century). The inscription at the bottom of the engraving attributes the design for this print to Raphael; it may preserve a rejected idea for his Battle for the Milvian Bridge in the Sala di Costantino in the Vatican, Rome.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio

Title

The Battle around the Shield and Lance

Place

Italy (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1522–1532

Medium

Engraving in black on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

34.1 × 48.5 cm (13 7/16 × 19 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Elizabeth Hammond Stickney Collection

Reference Number

1887.279

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/30/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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