Two Mounted Crusader Knights, Hand Colored French Lithograph, 1842

An original antique lithograph, hand colored, from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). Each image shows a single knight on horseback; they are not in combat. In the upper image a knight in scale armor and a conical helmet with a nasal guard rides a gray horse, raising one hand to his helmet; he carries a long kite shaped blue shield painted with a golden lion and has a sword at his side, with a red tunic showing at the neck. Behind him rise a pale rock and, at right, the towers of a castle. In the lower image a knight in mail with a rounded helmet charges across open country with his sword raised; his blue surcoat bears a red cross on the chest, he holds a dark shield, and his horse is covered to the hocks in a long pink caparison, with low hills along the far horizon behind him.

The lettering reads "Tom. IV" at upper left, "FRANCIA" in the center and "Tav. 32" at upper right. Both images carry the same caption, "Cavaliere a Cavallo Cro:" (Mounted Crusader Knight), with the last word abbreviated on the plate.

The red cross worn on the surcoat was the sign taken by those who joined a crusade.

The two riders, one above the other, read well as a pair and suit a study, a boy's room or a collection of military and medieval prints.

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