Mihail Lapatty

This 19th-century painter was obsessed with dusty battle scenes, he’d spend months recreating a single sword’s reflection in the light. He once lugged a whole portable studio to a muddy field just to catch the exact angle of a horse’s neck mid-gallop. That’s why his print of Mihai Viteazul at Calugăreni feels alive: the horse’s wild eye and the chaotic dust aren’t decorative, they’re the whole point.

If you’ve ever squinted at a history book and wished the figures would step out, this is your guy, start with his print of that fateful 1595 charge.