Pavise with the Arms of Winterthur and Saint George

Applied Arts of Europe

c. 1440—c.1460

Swiss; Winterthur

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: Currently Off View
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

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Pavise with the Arms of Winterthur and Saint George

Currently Off View

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Department

Title

Place

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.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

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.

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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.