Cleveland Museum of Art

Schiavona Broadsword

Date

1700s

Medium

steel, brass, leather and wood

Culture

Italy, Venice

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This broadsword or basket-hilted sword is a type that was often carried by the bodyguards of the Doge of Venice who came from the Dalmatian Coast of present-day Croatia and were then called Schavoni in Venice. The complex barred guard slopes forward and protects the hand. This sword has what is known as a "cat's head" pommel, a spherical knob that serves as a counterweight at the opposite end of the sword from the point.

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