Which Osprey title is this plate from ?

[Theodosius the Great]

Avete,

Does anyone know which Osprey title this color plate is taken from ?

It looks like the work of Angus McBride (i.e. that stocky-look trademark of his).

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

I think is from the book dedicated to the pretorian guard.

[Theodosius the Great]

I think is from the book dedicated to the pretorian guard.

Hi Lucius,

I have the book you mention but this plate isn't in the Praetorian Guard issue. I had the same thought at first but McBride didn't illustrate that book.

[Virilis]

Salve companions!

The picture is from the book "Imperial Rome at War" by Martin Windrow & Angus Mcbride (Concord Publications).

The plate is called "A Praetorian Cohort in the Danube Front, c.88 AD".

[Theodosius the Great]

Thanks very much, Virilis.

The plate is called "A Praetorian Cohort in the Danube Front, c.88 AD".

That's the look I'm going for with my impression.

I knew that tribune was unmistakably the work of McBride :wink:

He isn't my favorite artist but I'll see about getting the book anyway. It sure isn't cheap :x lol:

[Robert Vermaat]

Darn! They beat me to it..

He isn't my favorite artist but I'll see about getting the book anyway. It sure isn't cheap :x lol:

Oh it´s not so expensive but probably not so easy to get hold of. Or maybe there are soem secend hand ones around?

[john m roberts]

That tribune looks remarkably like a young Marlon Brando. I wonder if McBride was inspired by Brando's performance as Marc Antony in "Julius Caesar."

[Virilis]

By the way,

There`s on amazon.co.uk for sale "Ancient Armies" by Tim Newark & Angus McBride for 8.79 pounds in used books (also by Concord Publications).

I paid about three times this sum for the book. If you are interested, be quick, the book is difficult to get! You can forget the text of the book but McBride`s colour plates are good, especially Alexander the Great`s siege of Tyre.

(by the way, I am not either very big fan of McBride`s,`they are too much "fantasy-like" characters, like "Gimli in roman arms" :wink:

Regards,

[Robert Vermaat]

"Ancient Armies" by Tim Newark & Angus McBride for 8.79 pounds in used books (also by Concord Publications).(by the way, I am not either very big fan of McBride`s,`they are too much "fantasy-like" characters, like "Gimli in roman arms" :wink:

Yes, I can recommend that one!
Oh, I am a fan of McBride, or at least I was. His older stuff is just absolutely great - he paints where others draw. Sure, if you have seen much of his work (I have), some plates look very much alike. Also, he's never been able to do a good Late Roman cross-bow fibula :? wink: I still regret he did no better job on the one about Alexander!
My absolute favorites are then of course older books (almost all Osprey):
Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon Wars (MAA 154-1984), maybe the nr 1..
Rome's Enemies 5-Gallic and British Celts (MAA 158-1985), runner up..
The Vikings (Elite 3-1985)
Rome's Enemies 4-Spanish Armies (MAA 180-1986)
The ancient Greeks (Elite 7-1986)
The Normans (Elite 9-1987)
The samurai (Elite 23-1989)
Soldiers of the English Civil War 1 (Elite 25-1989)
Soldiers of the English Civil War 2 (Elite 27-1990)
New Kingdom Egypt (Elite 40-1992)
Imperial Rome at war (Concord-1997)

[Virilis]

Yes, my personal favourite is also "Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon Wars" by Osprey!

Perhaps the biggest disappointments by McBride are Warrior series "The Roman Legionary 58bc - AD 69" and "Imperial Roman Legionary Ad 161-284" . By the way, there are only 8 colour plates compared to the usual 12 and they seem to be made in a hurry. Also the shapes of the swords are horrible!

Oh yes, and the "Romano-Byzantine Armies 4th to 9th Centiries" is also very weak, both in pictures and text...

I agree that the older McBride is often better, when the limbs of the characters are not out of the Middle-Earth :wink: ...

Regards,

[Graham Sumner]

Theodosius wrote:

That's the look I'm going for with my impression.

There has been a discussion on another thread regarding the Tribune's tunic especially with regards to the purple decoration along the hem as illustrated here. I think McBride has simply copied an illustration by Peter Connolly from his Roman Army book. However there does not seem to be any original evidence for that type of decoration and the tunics at that period would appear to have had the usual vertical clavii in either Senatorial or Equestrian thickness.

With regards to McBride's work one of his best illustrations was a depiction of Germanic warriors amongst some Roman ruins, perhaps Robert remembers that. As far as I know it was not published in any book but it did appear in an issue of Military Illustrated magazine in an article on McBride himself. Fans of Mc Bride should get the book 'Warriors and Warlords, the art of Angus McBride'.

Graham.

[Conal]

One thing which gets up my nose is his composite bows. He doesn't seem to grasp that they are under recurved tension ... I recall one or two illustrations where the string looks decidedly loose :x

I had assumed that he drew what he was told to by the author .. is that a wrong assuption ?

Graham I have that Military illustrated which shows some fantasy art stuff he had done.

My favorite illustration is by Peter Connoly ...Ceasarian legionarys taking on a Greek phalanx better than anything I have seen of McBrides !

[Nathan Ross]

An example of McBridean artistic license occurs in the new Osprey title 'Sassanian Elite Cavalry' - a double-page plate depicting the death of the emperor Julian shows Roman troops in segmentata and Italic helmets! The description of the plate at the back has an added erratum that Roman soldiers of that date would not have worn armour like that... Obviously somebody spotted it at the proofreading stage. Must have been rather galling for the author, who'd apparently put decades of original research into the book. Some of the plates do indeed look a little sketchy - a shame, as McBride has long been a favourite of mine too.

[Virilis]

In general Angus McBride`s composite bows seems to be too small, like toys. Peter Connolly`s illustrations are very good and think about his whole contribution to our hobby, awesome!

Personally I like very much Graham Turner`s illustrations on Graham Sumner`s "Roman Army: Wars of the Empire". Also Graham Turner`s pictures on Osprey`s series "Roman Military Clothing" are at the very top of my list, more please!!!

Does anyone know if Graham Turner has done some other illustrations on roman military history?

There are also very good pictures about roman army on this address:
http://www.aeroartinc.com/aapub/roman.asp I think the artist is russian? I would love to have this artist working for Osprey!

Regards,

[Virilis]

I should have been talking about Graham Sumner when I mentioned Osprey`s "Roman Military Clothing", not Graham Turner, sorry! :oops:

Regards,