De trehundrede og seks fabier 1574

Tobias Stimmer made this woodcut, “The Three Hundred and Six Fabii”, sometime in the late 16th century. In it, we see Roman soldiers on horseback in a highly stylized landscape. This print speaks to the rise of humanist thought in Northern Europe at the time. The Italian Renaissance had rediscovered the glory of Ancient Rome and its republican ideals. Such imagery was often used to bolster the prestige of secular rulers and states. Representations of war and military strength appealed to those in power. The artist would have had access to classical texts, such as Livy's "History of Rome," as source material. The stark contrast of black lines on white paper is typical of woodcut prints from this period. The medium itself lent itself to broad, graphic depictions rather than subtle tonal gradations. As an art historian, I might look at how Stimmer’s print relates to other printed images of the time, and the social function of such imagery.