Shield of arms
Coat of Arms
1580-1600 (made)
1580-1600 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
The use of coats of arms (stemmi in Italian) emerged in the 12th century as a way of identifying armoured knights in combat.The practice was then adopted by the nobility and by banking and merchant families. They placed them on the outside of buildings and on tombs as identifiers or signs of allegiance. Similar stemmi also appeared on livery and small-scale objects.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Title | Shield of arms |
Materials and techniques | Istrian stone |
Brief description | Coat of arms, relief, Italy, early 17th century |
Physical description | Coat of arms in istrian stone. The shield of arms resides within a scrolled frame, having terminal spinx figures on either side, and being surmounted by a mask. The central shield carries two crossed lions paws (lion's jambs erased in saltire) betwen a frontally disposed lion's head (face in chief) and a bird's leg (erased and erect in base). An inscription reads INGENIVM SVPERAT VIRES. |
Dimensions |
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Marks and inscriptions | INGENIVM SVPERAT VIRES
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Credit line | Cavendish Bentinck Bequest |
Historical context | The lion's head above crossed paws was identified as the arms of the Raspi family in the seventeenth century in Vincenzo Coronelli's Blasone Veneto. |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | The use of coats of arms (stemmi in Italian) emerged in the 12th century as a way of identifying armoured knights in combat.The practice was then adopted by the nobility and by banking and merchant families. They placed them on the outside of buildings and on tombs as identifiers or signs of allegiance. Similar stemmi also appeared on livery and small-scale objects. |
Bibliographic reference | List of Objects in the Art Division South Kensington Museum acquired during the Year 1892. Arranged according to the dates of acquisition, with appendix and indices. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1893. pp. 228 |
Collection | |
Accession number | 1817-1892 |
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Record created | August 11, 2006 |
Record URL |
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