War Etchings as a historical source: «The battle of Breitenfeld» by Matthäus Merian the Elder

Abstract

The article deals with the depiction of the Battle of Breitenfeld from the second volume «Theatrum Europaeum», which was published in 1633 by the publishing house of Merian in Frankfurt am Main. In order to properly evaluate this masterfully created etching, which was based on a drawing by one of the Swedish cartographers Olof Hansson and was also published as a broadsheet, interdisciplinarity is required, the application of the methods of both history and art history. Art historians believe Merian’s etchings can be categorized as analytical-topographic battle scenes. Merian’s oeuvre is characterized by the shift from idyllic landscapes to the topographical depiction of besieged cities or battlefields. Landscape gradually becomes a theatrum belli and, in Merian’s later works, plays the role of visual documentation of places and events. Historians who favor the methods of media history or military history compare the illustrations and text of «Theatrum Europaeum» with the content of contemporary pamphlets and newspapers that circulated throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Using these methods, they gain insight into how contemporaries might have assessed major victories and defeats. «Theatrum Europaeum» was one of the best «chronicles» of current events and of the Thirty Years’ War, composed of a mix of news reports from around the world. The author has attempted to elucidate the circumstances surrounding the publication of this etching in the lead-up to the Frankfurt Lent Fair. A comparative analysis of Merian’s etching with contemporary illustrations and information about the battle is carried out