Two-Handed Sword
1550–1599
- Medium
- steel, leather and wood grip, bronze pommel
- Dimensions
- Overall: 170.5 cm (67 1/8 in.); Blade: 125.6 cm (49 7/16 in.); Quillions: 53.7 cm (21 1/8 in.); Grip: 43.2 cm (17 in.); Ricasso: 34.7 cm (13 11/16 in.)
- Genre
- Arms and armor
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Tags
Germany, second half 16th Century
About
The two-handed sword, originally a weapon of war for specialist infantry, is so named because two hands were required to wield it. By the late 1600s, these enormous swords assumed a largely ceremonial or bodyguard function.