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Pavise with the Arms of Winterthur and Saint George

A work made of wood, leather, pigskin, iron, gesso, and pigment.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of wood, leather, pigskin, iron, gesso, and pigment.

Date:

c. 1440—c.1460

Artist:

Swiss; Winterthur

About this artwork

Units of crossbowmen used shields or pavises like this example to form a wall of protection while loading and aiming their crossbows. This pavise is part of a group that survived in the arsenal of the Swiss city of Winterthur.

Pavises were the product of specialized shield makers who made the wooden forms and covered them in layers of animal-skin glue, canvas, and leather. Painters then added the colorful front-facing layer with the coat-of-arms of the city of Winterthur (on the left) and Saint George (on the right).

Status

On View, Gallery 239

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Title

Pavise with the Arms of Winterthur and Saint George

Place

Winterthur (Place depicted)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1420–1480

Medium

Wood, leather, pigskin, iron, gesso, and pigment

Dimensions

112.7 × 43.2 cm (45 3/8 × 17 in.)

Credit Line

George F. Harding Collection

Reference Number

1982.2255

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/106393/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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