Richard I the Lionheart
(1841) by the French Neoclassical painter Merry-Joseph Blondel
(1781-1853). Blondel was a student of Jean-Baptiste Regnault and did
a whole series of famous crusaders such as Richard the Lionheart,
Raymond IV de Toulouse, Jean de Joinville and others for the Crusader
Gallery in the National Museum in Versailles.
The appeal of these crusaders seems not just in their brave battles and dangerous long distance travel. As well I think the artists, 750 years later, must have loved the exotic costumes and armour.
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