Joshua, King David and Judas Maccabeus

Primary Master of the Strassburg Chronicle

1492

ink

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Renaissance Renaissance Allegory

About this work

This drawing shows three armored men standing side by side. The person in the middle wears a crown of leaves and holds a sword. The others have long beards and carry spears or shields with strange symbols. Their armor looks heavy and detailed, with lots of lines and patterns. The text around them is in an old German script, which might be quotes or labels. The way the artist used lines to create shadows and shapes is very precise. Try looking up cross-hatching to see how this technique works.