The court of the House of Habsburg was quick to use the victorious Battle of Vienna as a tool for proclaiming military glory of Christian forces. To this end, numerous printed texts (some occasional) and drawings were released in Germany and Austria. An example of such printed material is a copperplate engraving by Johann Azelt (Azold), a graphic artist and print maker from Nuremberg (1654–?), active in 1672–1692.
Published by David Funck probably shortly after 1683, the engraving constitutes a glorifying portrait of the victorious leaders of armies which joined in the relief of the besieged capital. Quite obviously, the portrait was not made from nature but based solely on the print maker’s artistic imagination. The engraving depicts six riders set against a panorama of Vienna. Admittedly, not all of them were represented in line with their true achievements. The group is virtually dominated by Emperor Leopold I Habsburg seen in the foreground. Although absent from the battlefield near Vienna, the emperor takes the key role in the portrait, in line with official Austrian and German sources. The laurel wreath on his head is not at all accidental; nor is the commander’s staff in his lowered right hand. The same regiment is held by John George III, Elector of Saxony, standing on the emperor’ left. Ironically enough, Jan III Sobieski, the King of Poland, the commander-in-chief and the true hero of the Battle of Vienna, seen on the emperor’s right, is represented with no laurel wreath on his head or regiment in his hand. Clumsily crammed in the corner of the compositional background, he seems to fulfil the function of an underdog, though the inscription above his head reading König in Poln leaves no doubt about his identity. The three remaining riders are Count Starhemberg, Prince of Waldeck and Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. Placed in shade with blurred faces, they would be difficult to identify, were it not for inscriptions accompanying the figures. Charles, Duke of Lorraine and commander of the imperial forces, is altogether missing from the composition, presumably replaced by Habsburg himself. A panegyrical six-verse poem printed in the Schwabacher (placed initially under the composition, later cut off in a strip with the publisher’s imprint and artificially glued back in a new place) only allegedly creates an illusive impression of equality between the allied leaders: „Behold the heroes whose bravery crushed the powerful Turkish forces and God granted victory to the beloved Christianity (...)”.
Azelt’s copperplate engraving is an accurate reflection of the cold and essentially hostile attitude of Leopold I to Jan III. This negative mindset was also mirrored in literature, wherein Sobieski’s role as the commander-in-chief and the liberator of the empire was consistently belittled for the sake of stressing the importance of the envious emperor and boosting his weakened authority. As for the print’s artistic values, its composition required a good command of the perspective in depicting for instance the crammed horses. Azelt managed the task in so far as his skills allowed; only three of the six riders are clearly visible, with the remaining three barely sketched or mocked up. It is also impossible to count the depicted horses.
