Camillus 1549 - 1591

Jost Amman created this woodcut depicting Camillus, a Roman general, sometime in the late 16th century. The print depicts a military procession entering a fortified city. Through visual codes like the soldiers' classical armor and the city's Romanesque architecture, Amman evokes the grandeur of the ancient world. This interest in the past wasn't just about nostalgia. In the 16th century, European rulers often looked to Roman history to legitimize their own power and project an image of strength. Prints like this served as propaganda, reminding viewers of the power and glory of a strong, centralized state. Historical research into the socio-political context in which the work was created, along with study of the printmaking institutions of the period, is essential to understanding not only the subject, but the motivations for its production and circulation. Art, then, can only ever be fully understood when its social and institutional context is taken into consideration.