The King's Sons Shooting at their Dead Father's Body

The King's Sons Shooting at their Dead Father's Body — Mair von Landshut. 1495–1504.

Medium: engraving on olive-gray tinted paper. Dimensions: Sheet: 16.1 x 25.2 cm (6 5/16 x 9 15/16 in.).

Collection record: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

This gruesome story shows a contest among the sons of a deceased king to settle the estate: Two shoot their father’s corpse as a third refuses. Although the meaning of the subject matter is not entirely clear, the third son may symbolize true faith, while the others represent nonbelievers. German artist Mair von Landshut was among the first generation of engravers to come from a background in drawing and painting rather than metalwork. This print is meant to resemble a drawing. Mair prepared a white sheet of paper with olive-gray diluted ink, then printed from an engraved plate in black ink.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.