AACHEN, Hans von
(b. 1552, Köln, d. 1615, Praha)

Declaration of War before Constantine

1603-04
Parchment mounted on canvas, 34 x 42 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

From a series of what must originally have been twelve compositions of Allegories on the Wars against the Turks (1593-1606), painted on parchment and assembled in book form, seven oil sketches have been preserved (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum; Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts), one composition is known from an engraving and four others from drawn copies of which there are eleven in all, likewise bound together as a book (Dresden, Kupferstichkabinet).

The present painting is one of the five preserved in Vienna.