Crusader Ship and a Crusader Prince on Horseback, Hand Colored Lithograph, 1842

This is an original antique lithograph with hand coloring from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). The upper image shows a single masted ship on a blue green sea under a pale yellow sail marked with a large red cross, a small banner with a red cross and a cross finial at the masthead. Shields in blue and red line the side of the hull; a figure at the stern blows a trumpet beside a small flag, men in red and white sit and point along the deck, and the prow ends in a gilt bird's head with a red and white shield hanging below it. The lower image shows a rider in a pointed helmet and patterned mail, a red cross on his chest and red and white bindings on his legs, riding a dark brown horse at a walk and carrying a yellow club over his shoulder, with trees at the left and a walled town on a hill behind.

The top margin is lettered "Tom. IV" at the left, "FRANCIA" in the center and "Tav. 30" at the right. The caption under the upper image reads "Barca di Crociati" (ship of crusaders) and the caption under the lower image reads "Principe Crociato a Cavallo" (crusader prince on horseback).

The crusaders took their name from the cross they wore when they vowed to join the expeditions to the Holy Land between the late eleventh and the thirteenth centuries, which is why the red cross appears on the sail, the banner and the rider's chest.

A plate with a ship and a horseman rather than a costume group, it suits a study or a collection on medieval history.

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