In one, the figures parade with what appear to be white Spanish heads on pikes.
Similarly to the “wild men,” in these illustrations, the “Moors” are largely naked, although the clothes and banners they wear are exceptionally colorful and marked by standard “exotic” features like feathers, turbans, and curved swords. There are fifty-one images in total, and they run the gamut from depictions of mundane figures like soldiers and hunters to mythical creatures, from fools to animals. The court artist to the Duke of Saxony, Daniel Bretschneider the Elder, produced a catalogue that shows off the costume designs for a year’s worth of courtly celebrations. King of the Moors, riders leading slaves.Turkish musicians, Duke Johann Georg of Saxony as Sultan.Indian band including Margrave Christian of Brandenburg.Costumes of “Moors” were inspired in large part by travel reports, and they generally followed conventions set out in famous guides like Vecellio’s well-known survey of the world’s costumes, which distinguishes between the richly clothed noble Moors of northern Africa and the almost naked “Black Moors.” Such catalogues give us an insight into Europeans’ fantasies and prejudices, and they also show us one means by which these circulated around Europe. As such, their products can be taken as a measure of the breadth of contemporaries’ imaginations. Elaborate costumes and displays were at the heart of these efforts, and courtly artists worked hard to impress through the sophistication of their design, the technical craft of their production, and the novelty of their figures. Guests had to navigate a complicated world of status distinctions, and such masquerades were never divorced from the courts’ need to trumpet their power and prestige.
The courtly year was regularly punctuated with celebrations in which guests dressed up in fantastical and exotic costumes. Such occasions were more than simply costumed parties, occasions for partygoers to let their hair down and have some fun.
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