id:			95909
accession number:	1916.1620
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1620
updated:		

Executioner's Sword, late 1600s. Germany, late 17th Century. Steel, wood, brass and copper wire; overall: 108.9 cm (42 7/8 in.); blade: 85.7 cm (33 3/4 in.); quillions: 22.5 cm (8 7/8 in.); grip: 15 cm (5 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1620

title:				Executioner's Sword
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			late 1600s
creation date earliest:		1650
creation date latest:		1699
current location:		210A Armor Court
creditline:			Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance
copyright:			

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culture:	Germany, late 17th Century
technique:	steel, wood, brass and copper wire
department:	Medieval Art
collection:	MED - Arms & Armor
type:		Arms and Armor
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 108.9 cm (42 7/8 in.); Blade: 85.7 cm (33 3/4 in.); Quillions: 22.5 cm (8 7/8 in.); Grip: 15 cm (5 7/8 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	Wan ich Das Schwerdt thu auff heben so / Wunch ich Dem armen sunder das Ewege Leben
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Armor Court Reinstallation
	opening date:   1998-09-10T00:00:00
	<i>Armor Court Reinstallation</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Edwin J. Brett (1828-1895), London, England
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Frank Gair Macomber, Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: -1916
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh
	date: 1916-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
The inscription on this sword reads, "When I raise this sword, so I wish that this poor sinner will receive eternal life."

digital description:


wall description:
Execution by decapitation was generally reserved for the nobility during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Although the axe was favored in England, for centuries swords were used throughout Central Europe. The blades were often etched with moralizing inscriptions and designs representing Justice (as here), the gallows, the rack, or the Crucifixion. By the early 1700s swords were no longer primarily used in Europe for executions, but they still functioned as symbols of power. This sword was probably ceremonial for a formal procedure or procession.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	<em>Catalogue of Arms and Armour</em>. Vol. 4, <em>17th to 19th century and a few pieces of iron work</em>. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], [1900-1915].
	page number: 	Mentioned and Reproduced: No. (209) 228
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CatArmsArmour4/page/n192

	Gilchrist, Helen Ives. <em>A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms &amp; Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923</em>. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924.
	page number: 	Mentioned: pp. 129-130, E97
	url:		https://archive.org/details/SeveranceCollection1924/page/n194

	Fliegel, Stephen N.<em> Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>[Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.
	page number: 	pp. 112, 171; cat. no. 165
	url:		

	Fliegel, Stephen N<em>. Arms &amp; Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>[Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
	page number: 	cat. no. 142, p. 189
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1620/1916.1620_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1620/1916.1620_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1620/1916.1620_full.tif