Illustration zu einem Ritterroman (_) 

Victor Müller made this illustration for a chivalric romance in Germany, sometime around the mid-19th century, using pencil on paper. This drawing gives us insight into the revival of interest in medieval culture and the values of chivalry during that era. The image is composed as a tapestry of scenes connected by foliage, portraying courtly life, processions, and symbolic figures. The composition and style invoke the romantic nationalism prevalent at the time, idealizing the past. Germany, in the 19th century, was undergoing a period of nation-building, and this image reflects the effort to create a shared cultural identity rooted in an idealized medieval past. We can contextualize this artwork through sources from literary societies and historical archives. In the German states, interest in folklore was strongly tied to nationalist sentiment and this drawing gives us insight into how artists participated in the construction of a national identity.