hsifeng | Interpreting a Misfit Artist: Urs Graf (Reply)

Urs Graf, the Swiss engraver and woodcut maker, has long been a source of curiosity to me. His images are powerful, beautiful and provocative; however, I have been told that they are *very* often propaganda and intended to be viewed as satire more than fact.

I recently stumbled upon Landsknecht.org (the updated home of the Stockholmsfänikan) and went browsing through their photos section looking for inspiration and amusement. I discovered that one of their members, Jonas Samuelsson, had uploaded a large number of Urs Graf images. These are good quality, *large* sized duplications. They include the date of the original, but not the names of the work involved (which is a little sad, since the title of these works are often very revealing).

While looking through the details of these pieces, I came upon an image the reminded me of a recent conversation on the Yahoo GermanRenCostume list. A friend of mine from Reno was looking to make a Schaube for the upcoming School of the Renaissance Soldier. I contacted him off list with a number of Schaube images and original patterns I have squirreled away, but warned him that I could not recall ever seeing this article of clothing on a mercenary – they seem to be the domain of the citizen, not the soldier.

Oh, and his original image was from the Osprey book series….*shudder*…which he is aware should be handled as rough reference only.

Well, it appears that the Osprey illustrator is a big fan of Urs Graf as well. In fact, almost every image on that page appears to have come from one of the sketches/woodcuts that I reviewed this morning.

The Schaube in question is the brown one in the upper left corner of the image. While going through the Landsknecht.org site, I found this:

At first glance I thought, “Crap! There is a Schaube on a soldier!” But as I started looking at details I became less sure of that interpretation. Here’s my thoughts:

First – What is with the manner in which he is holding that spear (*and why a spear, and not a pike as you regularly see in Graf images of soldiers)? Point in the ground? And apparently using it as some sort of distaff? This seems to scream a message of ineffective soldier to me.

Second – has anyone seen pinked gloves on a soldier before? I can’t recall having seen them – although I know they are commonly used in reenactment to protect hands in combat recreations and drill. Those darn poles get splinters dontyaknow? *chuckle*

Third – I think he’s got a second, furry hat that is hanging on his back at shoulder level; it appears to be held up by the cord around his neck. Furry hats are another item I can’t recall seeing on soldiers…

Given Urs’ tendency toward images mocking bad soldiers*, and given the state of Swiss** political views regarding their mercenary armies at this point in history***, I think that the Schaube is present in this drawing in order to tell the viewer that this man is not a very good soldier at all. The distaff (womanly), Schaube/gloves/furry hat (citizen not soldier), and misuse of the weapon (general idiot, likely to get himself killed in battle) all point to this interpretation for me.

So, in the end, I am going to stick with my original analysis that Schaubes are citizens – not soldiers – gear.

Sorry Rob….

Then again, I am still making one for my hubby. Even if he has to wear it as a ‘civy’ – they are just too cool not to make one! *grin*

EDIT: Upon looking at this image further - I do not think it is a distaff of wool on the spear, but a pair of shoes tied to the shaft by their own lacing cords. The date on this image is too early to be a symbol of the Bundshuhe/peasant uprisings in Germany (which I would have interpreted as a nod at the Swiss communal movement). Their presence does not change my mind about the meaning of this picture at all.

NOTES:

*There are three seperate image links here with examples of other Graf images, satirizing soldiers.

**Why do I think the man in this image is Swiss? Graf tended to 'mark' the Germans in his work with big handlebar moustaches. This man is clean-shaven, as are most Graf 'Reiselaufer'.

***"They don’t make em’ like they used to!” Would sum this up. Generally, those old citizen/soldier who helped to create the original Swiss Confederacy tended to look down on the later generations of Reiselaufer: They saw them as too greedy and didn’t support their tendency to ‘over dress’ and generally act like those Damn German Landsknechts ™.