Habsburgers verjagen Turkse belegeraars uit het gangenstelsel onder de keizerlijke burcht 1684

Romeyn de Hooghe made this print showing the Habsburgers chasing Turkish besiegers in the gang system under the imperial castle. In the late 17th century, conflicts between the Habsburg Empire and the Ottoman Turks were persistent and pervasive, and this image uses the visual language of propaganda to assert the dominance of the Habsburgs. The picture celebrates a military victory and reinforces the power and legitimacy of the ruling dynasty. The detailed depiction of the battle creates a narrative around Habsburg strength and Turkish defeat. This print made in the Netherlands, reflects broader European anxieties and attitudes towards the Ottoman Empire, and the artist and his patron would have been influenced by the political and religious tensions of the time. Historians use prints such as this, alongside pamphlets, news reports, and other textual sources, to build up a picture of attitudes at the time and to understand the place of visual imagery in shaping popular opinion.