Sword (1400s): Art, History and Details

Sword (1400s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

During medieval times, everyday objects carried deep spiritual meanings. The knight's sword was perceived as the noblest of weapons because its shape symbolized the cross on which Christ died.

Object facts

• Title: Sword
• Date: 1400s
• Culture: Germany (?)
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: steel; wood and leather grip
• Dimensions: Overall: 104.2 cm (41 in.); Blade: 87.3 cm (34 3/8 in.); Quillions: 20.3 cm (8 in.)
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1916.1600

A detail from the museum

The unornamented surfaces and signs of use on this sword and those similar to it lead us to believe that they were used in battle. Despite their utilitarian purpose, the blacksmith added details to the handles and hilts to make them visually appealing.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900.
• Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924.
• "Sword." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 11, no. 3 (March 1924): 51-70

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.