Destrier Destrier The destrier is the best-known war horse of the medieval era. It carried knights in battles, tournaments, and jousts. It was described by contemporary sources as the "Great Horse", due to its significance. While highly prized by knights and men-at-arms, the destrier was not very common. Most knights and mounted men-at-arms rode other war horses, such as coursers and rounceys. These three types of horse were often referred to generically as chargers. The word is first attested in Middle English around 1330, as "destrer". It was borrowed into Middle English from Anglo-Norman "destrer", whose Old French counterpart was "destrier"
Young Knight in a Landscape Young Knight in a Landscape Young Knight in a Landscape, or Portrait of a Knight, is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Vittore Carpaccio, now in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection in Madrid. Dated 1510, this is the earliest full-length portrait in Western painting—on the assumption that it is a portrait, as seems likely. It is characteristic of Carpaccio that apart from this important innovation, the style of the work seems in other respects to look back to the previous century. From some date until the 20th century the painting had been given the monogram of Albrecht Dürer, and Carpaccio's signature