Mock Joust of War with Fixed Shields c. 1512 - 1515

This watercolor and ink drawing depicts a jousting match gone awry. Likely made in the Germanic lands sometime in the late medieval or early Renaissance period, it offers us a window into the culture of aristocratic spectacle. Tournaments like the joust were elaborate displays of martial prowess and courtly ritual. But this image subverts those expectations. Here, both knights are unhorsed, their lances askew, their dignity upended. Is this a commentary on the supposed chivalry of the knightly class, or perhaps a light-hearted critique of the excesses of courtly culture? The artist leaves us to wonder. To fully understand this image, we might delve into manuals of combat, accounts of tournaments, and even sumptuary laws dictating what could be worn at court. Art history, after all, is inseparable from the broader currents of social and institutional life.