17 November 2022 at 06:24
This illustration gives William Tell the full 19th Century Romantic treatment. On November 18, 1307 Wilhelm Tell, who may or may not have existed, allegedly shot an apple off the head off his trembling son with his trusty crossbow on the orders of a tyrannical local Austrian official or Bailiff who may, or may not, have existed. Subsequently Tell may, or may not, have assassinated the villain and led a rebellion that led to the creation of the Old Swiss Confederacy. Or so the story goes. Known to the English speaking world as William Tell and Napoleonic Era European romantics as Guillaume Tell, he became a heroic symbol of Swiss independence, revolutionary resistanc...