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Plate 2 Der Weiß Kunig Illustration attributed to Leonard Beck   Associated with Chapter 1: He skillfully drafts a message seeking a consort, first consulting the book of the Old White King.

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Artist: Leonard Beck (1480-1542)

Woodblock prepared: 1509-1520

Publication date: 1775 (Vienna: Kurzböck)

Size of image: 19.5 x 22cm

Size of leaf: 22.5 x 33.5cm

A pristine uncoloured woodcut presented on a leaf with original binding notation near the stitched edge.

This image depicts a scene from the life of the "old White King", that is, Frederick III, wherein the King is

dispatching his ambassadors on missions to investigate various marital prospects - clearly, a seminal moment

in the life of Frederick III.

The illustrations also provides a wonderful insight into the internal architectural elements of the Court

(both hard and soft) through the depiction of internal columns (of different design to the external columns

that are also shown in the background) and the use of tapestries in association with external fenestration.

Other details of note include the presentation of the Knight as an Ambassador (in armour that - in part - is

styled as a pleated skirt and includes spurs and a fine rapier with swept hilt).

Provenance: V. Rhedigersch Stadt-Bibliothek Zu Breslau