3-041-881 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Gillion's Ship Attacked by the Sultan's Army; Roman de Gillion de Trazegnies, 1464. Additional Info: This page of the manuscript features one of the most dramatic scenes among the knight Gillion's adventures. At the center is his golden galleon, flanked by the two brown ships of his Muslim enemies. Although outnumbered, Gillion's soldiers leap off in both directions onto the two neighboring ships. At the very top, long fabric banners ripple in the wind from four crow's nests where soldiers let loose a flurry of arrows. Despite the odds, the westerners massacre the foreigners from the east. Several unfortunate Muslim soldiers are visible dead and dying in the swirling water, itself alive with a sense of movement, with their blood coloring the waves.