Sword
Unknown Artist
500–700
Medium
Iron
Dimensions
Overall: 31 1/8 x 2 1/16 x 3/4 in. (79 x 5.3 x 1.9 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Iron
Culture
Frankish
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number
17.193.352
Art Historical Context
This imposing Frankish sword, forged from iron around 500–700 AD during the Merovingian, exemplifies the martial prowess of the Franks—a Germanic people who rose to dominate much of Western Europe after conquering Roman Gaul. Measuring over 31 inches in length, it would have been wielded by a warrior elite, serving as both a deadly weapon and a symbol of in a society where conquest and loyalty to kings like Clovis defined power. Displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Medieval Art department it was generously gifted by J. Pierpont Morgan in 1917, preserving a tangible link to Europe's tu...