c. 1545-1547

Shield Bearer with Coat of Arms for the Fideler Family

This print is one of eighty-eight etchings made to illustrate “The Augsburg Book of Nobles.” Each image shows an individual figure—mostly military—dressed in splendid armor or fashionable clothing alongside the heraldic arms of a particular aristocratic family. Close inspection of this foot soldier suggests that interest in inventive imagery outweighed adherence to accuracy. The artist appears to have integrated pieces of real armor (the little pointed shield) with elements inspired by depictions in fifteenth-century paintings (the scalloped back plate), and fanciful details drawn from his own imagination (the flip-up visor with crossbar eyeholes).