Goetz von Berlichingen was a successful drama written in 1773 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, based on the memoirs of the sixteenth-century knight and adventurer-poet, Goetz von Berlichingen. The scene depicted here is taken from Act IV, scene iii of Goethe’s play when the hero is summoned to attend the Imperial Commissioners in the Council House at Heilbronn. When the magistrate, standing on the left, rings a bell, a party of armed men appears. Goetz, however, strikes one of them down and snatches a sword from another. The painting is stated to have been painted in Brussels, where Prince Albert and his brother stayed for 10 months, 1836-7, and to have been given by Prince Albert to the Queen of the Belgians. Signed and dated: Albrxt. / 1837. Inscribed on the back with the title and dates.