Siege of a Fortress, Albrecht Dürer, 1527

Dürer probably witnessed a siege similar to the one we see in these two woodcuts while traveling to Switzerland in 1519. Though the prints were not made until several years later, the experience of being an eyewitness to an event of this kind must surely have remained in his memory. The city in Dürer's woodcut is protected by immense fortress walls, a wide moat, and other structures designed to withstand being besieged both directly by mass ranks of soldiers in Though each print has a distinct border, when seen together they show a panoramic view of a relatively flat landscape in which infantrymen, probably mercenaries, gather in rectangular units to launch an attack, supported by cavalry drawn up in triangular wedges. Behind the groups of soldiers we can see herds of cattle and wagons carrying food and other supplies needed by the army. In the distance, flames leap into the sky from buildings that have already been put to the torch by the advancing troops. In addition to his work as a visual artist, Dürer was clearly interested in a wide variety of intellectual and artistic pursuits. Though his influential treatise about human proportion was not published until after his death in 1528, during his lifetime he produced several other publications. His edition of the Apocalypse, illustrated with 15 famous and immensely powerful woodcuts, appeared in 1498. He published a book about mathematics in 1525, and a book about the fortification of towns and cities appeared two years later. These two prints were made in 1527, the same year as his treatise on fortification, though there is no evidence to suggest that they were made as illustrations to the book.