The Sword. Uses, Myths and Symbols is the first exhibition on this theme. It brings together a hundred and twenty works: a collection of swords spanning the entire period from the fifth
to the fifteenth century, including mythical items such as Joan of Arc's sword, as well as manuscripts, paintings, gold and ivory work.
Technical Aspects
The sword is found in all civilisations that worked metal, from the copper age to the present day. The first section of the exhibition studies aspects of its production, through archaeological exhibits. Workshops and forges, for example, are evoked through the Gicelin
sword (first half of the eleventh century), which bears the smith's name. Whatever its shape, a sword is immediately recognisable by its four parts: blade, guard, tang and hilt.
Otherwise, they vary widely in type (dagger, falchion, Messer) and décor. The décor, whether plain or ornate and luxurious, gives clues to the social and artistic context.
Real Uses
The sword is primarily a weapon for fighting and killing enemies. Swordsmanship was an essential part of the education of knights and princes. An outstanding fighting manual in the German tradition, a manuscript from the late fifteenth century, sets out the teaching of the great fencing masters, including Johann Lichtenauer. Just as precious is the Flos duellatorum by the Italian master Fiore dei Liberi, which covers the martial arts and fighting techniques.
Swords were also used in leisure activities such as fencing or hunting. Two rare survivors are on display: the sword of Philip the Fair, king of Castile and father of Charles V, which dates from the late fifteenth century, and René d’Anjou’s extraordinary hunting rapier.
In a more unexpected approach, the exhibition looks at female uses of swords through the representation of suicide or a sword found in a female tomb.
Symbolic Uses
Many symbolic meanings gravitate around these direct uses. The sword illustrated the royal prerogative in law and was used to mete out justice. It played a part in fundamental rituals such as knighting and coronation. It illustrated a function but could also symbolise a nation. One of the highlights of the exhibition is a collection of “national” swords. These items, some on loan for the first time, incarnate an entire country through reference to one of its kings. For example, the sword of Svante Nilsson Sture, the Swedish regent around 1500 who fought for Sweden's independence, or Charlemagne’s famous sword, Joyous. The history of Joyous, as told in the Chanson de Roland, sums up the sword’s many different dimensions.
Objects and weapons connected with high functions belong in this group. For example, the sword of the connétable, commander in chief of the French armies, or the pontifical rapier, a prestigious gift that medieval popes bestowed on someone each year as a particular honour.
The Myth
More than any other object, the sword has been personified and endowed with magical properties and some have become mythical, particularly in literature and art. They have names, like the famous Durandal and Excalibur. They are attributed with extraordinary powers, can fly, break rocks or make their owner invincible. They flirt with magic and are invoked like gods. The swords of saints (St Comus and St Damian, St Maurice, St George) or heroes belong to this category (Durandal, Roland’s sword).
Its presence, in reality and in the collective imagination, continued well beyond the medieval era, through the Tuaregs’ swords in the nineteenth century to the modern sword of the academician Jean-Pierre Mahé.
