Choosing the winner of the Gubbio Balestra May 2006 upright vertical portrait
Because of the weight and accuracy of the crossbows each archer positions his balestra on a shooting bench and launches his steel pointed arrow across the 36 metre range at a speed close to 250 km per hour into a conical target called the ‘corniolo’. Each arrow ‘freccia’ is hand painted and marked with the name of the archer. Like a cluster of tail feathers, the target grows with a bouquet of deadly flowers. As each dart hurtles its way to the centre of the bull, a black inverted cone with a white face, the deadly speed and effect of the weapons is immediately apparent.
Size: 3415px × 5116px
Location: Gubbio Umbria Italy
Photo credit: © Christine Webb / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: accuracy, ancient, antagonism, archer, archers, arena, arrows, banners, bunting, central, ceremony, city, coloured, competition, contest, costume, costumed, crossbow, deadly, della, drums, event, flag, francesca, glorious, heraldic, historical, italian, judging, piazza, piero, pomp, procession, renaissance, rivalry, sansepolcro, spectacle, speed, strutting, sunday, target, throwers, troops, trumpets, tuscan, war
