Any thoughts?

[stuckinthemud]

Found this picture in a crossbow thread on vikingsword forum. Listed as a 15th century painting, I thought it might be of interest but posted it to bows not horn bows as the foot-fall is higher, though if the admin wants to move it I won't be offended.  Any comments as to the shape?

[PatM]

Renaissance  style bow  from Italy I would say. 
 
    Scroll down this page. Fix the link gap  before/after krackow. Not a sponsor afaik.

http:// krackow .com/western_europe.html

[Dances with squirrels]

Nope. No comment.

[DC]

He's sure holding that arrow in a funny way.

[bjrogg]

I think maybe he's supposed to be using thumb ring DC. Nice picture wicked broadhead on that arrow. Arrows on the opposite side like for thumb ring.
Bjrogg

[JWMALONE]

Cant comment on the bow really. But the over all theme to me seems to be an archers version of John Henry and the steam hammer. Notice the way every one is watching, that archer looks pretty concerned. Its definitely a competition between bow and a cross gun (not a crossbow). I like it might try and find a decent size print for the den.

[PatM]

Remember the Saracen influence from the Crusades....

 There is a PA magazine cover of the Mongolian women's champion preparing to draw and the arrow is exactly in that position. 

[willie]

HLD?

[DC]

I think maybe he's supposed to be using thumb ring DC. Nice picture wicked broadhead on that arrow. Arrows on the opposite side like for thumb ring.
Bjrogg

I'm looking at his bow hand, sorry.

[Del the cat]

Could be a steel bow? (they had 'em in India... dunno what date tho' ) Doesn't look thick enough for horn sinew.
Del

[ohma2]

From the looks of the limbs on the bow i couldnt pull it with a come along.like those old archery pics.

[DC]

There doesn't appear to be any fletching. I think that these old paintings are a vague source of info for us. They were painted by painters, not bowyers, so what you get is a painters impression of what was happening. I think this picture shows that there was a competition between a bow and a cross bow and you can't take a lot more from it.

[JWMALONE]

Maybe he was bare shaft tuning.
DC that's something I keep in mind when looking at old paintings. Sometimes they were very careful to get the details correct but not always so ya never really know how much liberty the artist took. I still like it a lot.

[Jim Davis]

From the looks of the limbs on the bow i couldnt pull it with a come along.like those old archery pics.

Looks to me that the limbs are pretty flat like a modern recurve and we are getting a view at an angle.

What annoys me is that the string looks loose, as if it is just hanging between the fingers and the bow.

[vinemaplebows]

I don't know, but if you look at the inner limbs carefully the artist illustrates the bow to have adjoining pieces on the belly, maybe a horn bow. Maybe it was a captured piece, and they were comparing the abilities and ease of use between them and the bolt gun.