Die Bucher Der Chronika Der Drei Schwestern 7 1900

Heinrich Lefler made this illustration for *Die Bucher Der Chronika Der Drei Schwestern 7* in Austria, likely sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. The image depicts a scene of aristocratic leisure. The story itself, in ornate German script, tells us about a Count called Reinald, and the scene is filled with visual cues denoting wealth and chivalry. Lefler’s artwork speaks to the cultural climate of the Habsburg Empire during the Fin de Siècle, when artists looked to medievalism, folk tales, and Romanticism to explore cultural identity. Note also, how the page is self-consciously organized with ornamental borders around the text, imitating the look of medieval illuminated manuscripts, whilst also resembling the layout of a theatrical stage. Examining Lefler’s career alongside the work of his contemporaries, and looking at the history of illustration at the time can give us a better understanding of this artwork as a cultural object.