1472
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Battle of St. James the Greater at Clavijo is a 1472 by Martin Schongauer, a Renaissance work, depicting Battle, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a wild battle scene: Saint James on a white horse, sword raised, charging through piles of headless bodies and severed limbs. This painting shows a made-up battle from 846—no one really fought it, but people in Schongauer’s time believed the saint swooped in to help Spain win. The scallop shell on his cloak was a real pilgrim badge, a tiny detail that tied the story to everyday travelers. If you like this kind of crowded, dramatic action, look up *chiaroscuro*—the way Schongauer uses light and dark to make the chaos pop.
According to legend, in 846 A.D. during a battle in Clavijo, one of the Christ's apostles and the patron saint of Spain, Saint James the Greater, miraculously appeared on the battlefield and helped the Christian armies of the Spanish king Ramirez defeat Muslim forces. Martin Schongauer portrays the climax of the battle, as Saint James appears on his steed at the center of the scene amidst gruesome beheaded corpses and dismembered limbs. The saint is brandishing a sword and wearing a scallop shell on his hat--an emblem adopted and worn by pilgrims during their travels to James's burial place,…
In this unfinished plate, the shield in the right foreground, the fallen horse at the bottom left, the points on the lances of the soldier in the upper left corner, and the hilly landscape are all details left uncompleted.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Martin Schongauer, also known as Martin Schön or Hübsch Martin by his contemporaries, was an Alsatian engraver and painter.
See the richer artist page
