The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
Parade Spear
c. 1570–1600
Overall: 208.2 cm (81 15/16 in.); Blade: 29.5 cm (11 5/8 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1789
Location: 210A Armor Court
Did You Know?
The Habsburg coat of arms, seen here, features a double-headed eagle.Description
This weapon is etched with the imperial Habsburg arms on one face and the Burgundian stave cross of St. Andrew on the other. In the 1500s, parade spears of this type became part of the insignia of infantry and light cavalry officers in the imperial army. In 1548 Titian painted an equestrian portrait of Emperor Charles V holding such a spear. At his abdication in 1556, Charles split the Habsburg inheritance between his son, Philip II of Spain, who was awarded control of Burgundy, and his brother, Frederick, who received the imperial title and the family's central European lands. This spear probably belongs to this later period and its purpose was likely ceremonial.- ?-1916Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941) Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art1916-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900. cat. no. 307 archive.orgGilchrist, 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. Mentioned: p. 193, H39; Reproduced: Plate XLII, H39 archive.orgFliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. pp. 129, 167; cat. no. 109Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. cat. no. 113, p. 187
- Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
- {{cite web|title=Parade Spear|url=false|author=|year=c. 1570–1600|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1789