Slag bij Moncontour, 1569 1570

Jean Perrissin's engraving, "Slag bij Moncontour, 1569," captures a bird’s-eye view of a battlefield, teeming with linear precision and graphic detail. The monochromatic palette emphasizes the structural arrangement of masses and the receding perspective. The composition is divided into distinct zones representing troop formations and geographical features. Through the intricate hatching and cross-hatching, we observe the artist's focus on pattern and spatial organization. The detailed representation of the battlefield is less about glorifying war and more about presenting a complex array of visual data. Perrissin uses the visual language of cartography and military strategy, transforming the chaos of battle into a structured, readable diagram. In this way, the artwork invites us to decode the relationships between the various elements, reflecting the period's concern with understanding and ordering the world through visual means. This tension between documentary and aesthetic order encapsulates the complex interplay of art, science, and power in the 16th century.