Crusader Knights in Mail with Heraldic Shields and Surcoats, 1842

This is an original antique lithograph, hand colored, from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). Each image shows two knights in chain mail. In the upper image, set before a castle on a hill, a knight in a mail hauberk and a barred helmet points with one hand and holds a tall blue kite shield bearing a yellow beast, a yellow belt across his body. Beside him a bareheaded knight in a white surcoat with a red cross carries a shield checkered red and white under a gold band and wears a sword in a red scabbard. In the lower image a knight in a black flat topped great helm with a gold cross, a blue surcoat with a red cross and an embroidered belt holds a drawn sword and a plain yellow shield. Beside him a bareheaded knight in a red surcoat, also marked with a red cross, holds his helmet under his arm and a shield with gold fleurs de lis on blue crossed by a diagonal band.

The plate is lettered "Tom. IV" at the upper left, "FRANCIA" in the center and "Tav. 31" at the upper right. Both images carry the same caption, "Crociati" (Crusaders).

The cross sewn on the surcoat marked men who had taken the vow to go on crusade, and the fleur de lis on a blue field is the device associated with the French crown.

The bold heraldic color makes this a good choice for a library, a study or a collection of medieval subjects.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.