Hector, Alexander, Julius Caesar, from the Nine Heroes 1515 - 1525

Lucas van Leyden made this print of Hector, Alexander, and Julius Caesar in the Netherlands sometime in the first third of the 16th century. This image is part of a northern tradition of depicting the “Nine Heroes”, exemplary figures from the classical past. The composition presents a challenge to the Renaissance obsession with ancient sources, as the artist, working long before the advent of photography, needed to use his imagination to construct their likenesses. While these heroes come from different eras, the image conflates them, visualizing them as contemporaries. The armor and tack are clearly of the artist's time. Here, history is presented as a series of exemplary figures. The viewer learns how to be a good leader by studying the past. A historian of art may look at visual culture to question how the past is used and what political purposes these images may have served. We are not simply passive receivers of historical knowledge; we are active shapers of it.