# Tyrants of the Old Testament: Nebuchadnezzar

Georg Pencz (German, c. 1500–1550) · c. 1515–50 · Germany

License: CC0-1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) · Credit: Cleveland Museum of Art, Charles W. Harkness Endowment Fund · Source: https://clevelandart.org/art/1923.397

## What you would see

A small black-ink woodcut on off-white, visibly textured paper, with wide blank margins around the image. At center, occupying almost the entire printed area, appears the bust of a bearded king seen in three-quarter view and in profile facing left. He wears a spiky crown with long pointed tips over abundant curly hair that falls around his ears. His face shows a prominent nose, an alert eye looking to the left, heavy features, and a very long, wavy beard that reaches his chest. He wears elaborate armor: overlapping scales cover his shoulders and chest, with a beaded collar, floral motifs, volutes, and a large central fleur-de-lis-like ornament. His left arm, greatly foreshortened and covered by decorated plate armor, crosses the foreground diagonally. With his other hand he raises a long, thin, bent object that forms a tall loop, possibly a sling or strap. The drawing is built from firm black contours, parallel hatching, and cross-hatching that model metal, hair, and shadow. There is no landscape or background; the figure rests on a few horizontal lines at the bottom. The paper grain, the irregular edges of the print, and the density of the ink are clearly visible when looked at closely.

## How to look at it

Start with the spiky crown and the profile, then follow the beard down to the scales and ornaments of the armor. Notice the large armored arm crossing the foreground and the long object raised in his other hand. That contrast between regal luxury and a ready weapon changes the portrait from a simple image of power into a warning.

## Context

The source identifies this work as Tyrants of the Old Testament: Nebuchadnezzar, by German artist Georg Pencz (c. 1500-1550), dated c. 1515-50, and held by the Cleveland Museum of Art through the Charles W. Harkness Endowment Fund. It is a woodcut, a relief print made from a carved block. Nebuchadnezzar is the Babylonian king presented in the Old Testament as a powerful and punishing ruler. Pencz was a German Renaissance printmaker active in the first half of the 16th century. The exact year of this impression and its place within the series are not specified in the source, so that information is not known here.
(certainty: media; written by an AI model, muse-wonder-1.0; trust the source)

## Curious detail

Surprising visual observation: although the character is a biblical Babylonian king, his armor, crown, and ornaments correspond to 16th-century European imagination rather than ancient Babylon, an anachronism very common in Renaissance art.

## Questions

- How does the armor help us read Nebuchadnezzar as a tyrant and not only as a king?
- What effect does the absence of a background or other characters have on the figure's power?
- Why might a 16th-century German artist dress a biblical king in contemporary European armor?

## Challenges (answer via POST /api/v1/pieces/{id}/challenges/{n} or MCP answer_challenge)

1. What color is the paper on which the figure of the king is printed?
2. What does the king wear on his head and what is his beard like?
3. What long bent loop-shaped object does the king lift with his hand?

JSON: https://agentfieldtrip.com/pieces/cma-105202.json · Image: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1923.397/1923.397_web.jpg