Capricci di varie battaglie 1635

Johann Wilhelm Baur made this undated print, Capricci di varie battaglie, using etching. It's an example of a capriccio, a fantasy work which in this case depicts a battle. Baur was German, but spent time in Rome, and this work seems to belong to a tradition of battle scenes by Italian artists. What’s interesting is that the scene includes Ottoman figures – you can see this from the turbans that they're wearing. The Ottomans were, of course, the great enemy of the Holy Roman Empire, and battles between the two were common in the 17th century. The image is a reminder that European identity was forged through conflict and competition, and artistic depictions of such battles contributed to an understanding of who ‘we’ are and who is the ‘other’. Historians look at works like this to understand how cultural attitudes are shaped and transmitted. Prints were particularly important as a way of disseminating images widely.