Arming the Alps through Art: Saints, Knights and Bandits on the Early Modern Roads

No blood will be drawn and no lives will be lost. Yet, the actual presence of these weapons in the Alps provide an interesting pretext to the staging of such recognizable objects and performances of bodily combat, and how they might correlate to a broader visual culture of normative violence. In the late medieval and early modern periods, there was a profusion of images of military saints and knights who watched the pathways of this strategic landscape. Crossing the medieval and early modern Alps required planning, resources and the courage to cope with often-treacherous terrain, pathways and climate. Banditry was also perceived as rife: without a competent guide, travelers – from solo voyagers to larger caravans – were vulnerable to a spontaneous or coordinated attack. The Alps continued to be the setting for warfare throughout the fourteenth century. The viamala has operated as a transit route in the Rhaetian Alps since Roman times, when it was used for military purposes.