Bataille de Cérignole, 1503

This illustration by Alphonse de Neuville depicts the Battle of Cerignola in 1503, a major engagement of the Italian Wars. The scene highlights a mounted commander amid armored soldiers, banners, battle smoke, and fallen bodies, in a dramatic composition that emphasizes the violence of the military clash. The image stresses the heroic portrayal of the fighters, the disorder of the battlefield, and the brutality of war at the threshold between the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Produced in the nineteenth century for an illustrated history, it is not a direct witness to the event but a historical reconstruction intended to give a spectacular visual form to the great battles of the past. It thus reflects the taste of historical illustration for scenes of command, cavalry, and destruction.