The First Tournament

The print depicts the main square of Wittenberg during a large tournament with various spectators around the enclosure and in the windows of the surrounding buildings. It is dated 1506 and was thus created two years after Cranach had entered the service of Duke Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, at his court in Wittenberg in 1504. Members of the Ducal family can be seen observing the tournament from the balcony festooned with a tapestry and the Saxon coat-of-arms.