Rapier

This rapier, formerly in the imperial arsenal in Vienna, was probably made for Emperor Rudolf II. The hilt can be attributed to the master-smith Daniel Sadeler, scion of a large family of artists and master-craftsmen from Antwerp. Sadeler spent the years 1602–10 at the court of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, before moving to Munich to work for the Duke of Bavaria until his death in 1632. His designs typically combine a gold background with engraved figurative and ornamental decoration executed in blued high relief.

Here, the knuckleguard of the hilt is decorated with depictions of Athena and of Perseus clutching the head of Medusa. In the centre of the crossguard we see Hercules vanquishing the Nemean Lion and the Lernaean Hydra; on the side ring are two riders. The pommel features scenes in which a warrior is arrested and goes on trial.

The pierced upper part of the blade also features the bladesmith’s signature, which comprises the first line of Psalm 30 and his name: IN TE / DOM/INE // SPE/RAV/I NON, IVAN / MART/INEZ // EN / TOL/EDO. Psalm 30 (Vulgate) begins In te Domine speravi non confudar in aeternum (‘in you, oh Lord, I place my hopes, I will never be confused in all eternity’). At the time, Juan Martinez was probably the most famous bladesmith in Toledo, Europe’s leading centre of blade-making. Note Martinez’s master’s marks (twice, on both the reverse and the obverse) on the ricasso, the blunt part at the beginning of the blade: the proof mark of Toledo (a crowned TO), a crescent moon with face looking right (Martinez’s smith’s mark), and a crowned lily (Martinez’s mark as royal bladesmith).