Italian Heraldry: Scaricamazza

Again I find myself unable to finish one project without new ideas flooding in. In the upcoming months, I've resolved to also delve into creating mantles, flags, and shields inspired by the heraldry of noble Italian families, focusing particularly on one of my favorite historical eras, the Renaissance.

For each coat of arms, I envision crafting a flag, shield, and mantle. The inaugural coat of arms for this endeavor belongs to the Scaricamazza family. I extend my gratitude to Dario Scaricamazza, the coat of arms' owner and manager of the Instagram profile Heraldry.art.

As an additional touch, I've decided to include a leopard fur atop the mantle, echoing the coat of arms. If there's a coat of arms you'd like to see brought to life, do let me know!

Give me 26 lead soldiers and I will conquer the world

Today is a day for celebration! And it's a double celebration!

First, I'm celebrating because Mark, on his fantastic blog at https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/

shared an email of mine along with a link to my website, and he greatly appreciated the photos with the Playmobil figures!

But I'm also celebrating because Alexei from distant Russia has had freed from the printer the tournament knights by Hans Burgkmair the Elder, which I had prepared some time ago by extracting them from images found on the internet.

You can find them in the "Print & Play" section.

I invite you to visit Mark's blog, which contains many interesting gems if you're a fan of toy soldiers in all their possible variations.

The title of this post is actually taken from his blog, a quote I had never heard before.

This particular quote has left a strong impression on me.

26 lead soldiers are none other than the letters of the alphabet found in typewriters, the letters were made of lead and letters alone have a very limited meaning. However, when letters are combined into words we are able to communicate thoughts and ideas.

This quote, dating back over 200 years and attributed to Benjamin Franklin, is still relevant today.

If Franklin was referring to the printing press, the power of written communication has gained an even wider reach thanks to the Internet. Letters and words remain powerful weapons, regardless of how they are delivered.

It's truly beautiful and exciting how passions and interests can bring people together, even those who are far apart, especially in times like these.

Here are pictures of the tournament knights made by Alexei

The author, Hans Burgkmair visibly pleased