Cleveland Museum of Art

Banner with a Quartered Royal Arms of Spain and the Madonna and Child

Date

1500s

Medium

red and dark brown velvet, embroidered; fringe

Culture

Spain

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This banner is quartered or broken into four parts. Two sections contain embroidered images of the Virgin and Child. The other two are devoted to the royal arms of Spain. On the arms are representations of the kingdoms of Spain in the 1500s. A three towered-castle represents the Kingdom of Castille; the rearing lion is a symbol for the Kingdom of León; two eagles stand for the Kingdom of Sicily; and at the bottom is the pomegranate for Granada. Below this appear a yoke and a bundle of arrows which have been seen on Spain's coat of arms since the union of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. This banner was hanging in the armor court when it first opened in 1916.

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