Illustration from Von dem Troianischen Krieg, plate 24 from Woodcuts from Books of the XVI Century
1536, assembled into portfolio 1937
Medium
Woodcut on paper
Dimensions
Image: 14.1 × 15.6 cm (5 9/16 × 6 3/16 in.); Image/text: 25.3 × 15.7 cm (10 × 6 3/16 in.); Sheet: 27.3 × 18.7 cm (10 3/4 × 7 3/8 in.)
Classification
woodcut
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
132169
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
This lively woodcut, plate 24 from *Von dem Troianischen* (On the Trojan War), was crafted by Hans Weiditz II in 1536. A master illustrator from Augsburg, Germany, Weiditz was renowned his dynamic black-line woodcuts that brought epic tales to life in printed books during the Renaissance. Printed on paper and later assembled into a modern portfolio in 1937, this intimate image measures just 14.1 × 15.6 cm, perfect for the pages of 16th-century volumes at the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings department. Woodcuts like this one revolutionized storytelling, allowing affordable reproduction of intricate scenes from classical myths. Weiditz's technique—carving fine details into pearwood blocks, inking them, and pressing onto paper—captures the chaos and drama of the Trojan War with expressive figures and bold contrasts. Popular in German-speaking lands, such illustrations drew from medieval chronicles and humanist revivals of Homer, blending legend with moral lessons for everyday readers. Held in the Art Institute of Chicago, this plate exemplifies the woodcut's golden age, bridging art and literature while preserving vivid glimpses of 16th-century imagination. Visitors, imagine flipping through a dog-eared book where heroes clash amid ancient ruins—just like this!