Collection Online as of November 28, 2023

Banner with a Quartered Royal Arms of Spain and the Madonna and Child

1500s

Part of a set. See all set records

Spain, 16th century

Red and dark brown velvet, embroidered; fringe

Overall: 109.2 x 138.4 cm (43 x 54 1/2 in.)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1885

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

This banner was hanging in the armor court when it first opened in 1916.

Description

This banner is quartered or broken into four parts. Two sections contain embroidered images of the Virgin and Child. The other two are devoted to the royal arms of Spain. On the arms are representations of the kingdoms of Spain in the 1500s. A three towered-castle represents the Kingdom of Castille; the rearing lion is a symbol for the Kingdom of León; two eagles stand for the Kingdom of Sicily; and at the bottom is the pomegranate for Granada. Below this appear a yoke and a bundle of arrows which have been seen on Spain's coat of arms since the union of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile.

Provenance

-1916

Bashford Dean (1867-1928), New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art

1916-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924. Mentioned: p. 259, M12 archive.org

Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. cat. 274, p. 177

Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. cat. no. 269, p. 196