The figure here is the Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in 1190, the year of his death. He was the German Holy Roman Emperor and was crowned by the pope in 1155. Barbarossa was what the northern Italian cities called him - -and it means red beard, which he had. At the time northern italy was part of the German Empire. He worked to make Germany a united nation and he fought while enroute to the holy Land, fighting in the Third Crusade. The Illustration dates to 1882. .