The Burning of Troy
Adam Elsheimer, 1600
For now, just to look at
The photograph we have of this work is not sharp enough to print at the quality we want, so we are not selling it for now. We are looking for a better one.
About the work
- Artist
- Adam Elsheimer
- Date
- 1600
- Medium
- Oil on copper
- Dimensions
- 36 × 50 cm
- Collection
- Alte Pinakothek, Munich
- Reference
- XDV-0006
What the museum label doesn't tell you
Troy burns up top, reduced to a flicker; the real drama happens below, in flesh: Aeneas hauling his father through smoke lit by no visible source. But look at the soldier on the left, slashed hose, plumed cap: that Landsknecht is practically a signature. The National Gallery catalogue uses this exact figure to date other Elsheimer paintings, matching his costume against pieces scattered across collections. A background extra turned into forensic evidence. How many minor figures in old paintings are quietly doing the same job elsewhere?
