These pieces—grip terminal, mounts, scabbard chape, all in gold—are all that remain of a luxury dagger. The stamped designs of sea monsters and dolphins belong to Byzantine metalworking tradition and appear on other Langobardic objects from this period.
This group of objects was found in the grave of a Langobardic horseman, who was buried in his warrior dress, with weapons, shield, helmet, and the fittings for his horse. What remains are the many gold pieces that would have ornamented his clothing and equipment, and they attest to the great wealth of the Langobardic aristocracy within a generation of settling in Italy.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Piece from a Luxury Iron Dagger
Date:ca. 600
Culture:Langobardic
Medium:Gold
Dimensions:Overall: 1 7/8 x 1 13/16 x 1/2in. (4.8 x 4.6 x 1.2cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Gold
Credit Line:Purchase, 1895
Accession Number:95.15.91
Found in Castel Trosino, central Italy.; Samuel T. Baxter, Florence (from at least 1876-1895)
Monastero di Santa Giulia. "Il futuro dei longobardi: l'Italia e la costruzione dell'Europa di Carlo Magno," June 18–November 19, 2000.
Baxter, S.T. "On Some Lombardic Gold Ornaments Found at Chiusi." The Archaeological Journal 33 (1876). p. 106, pl. I, no. 1.
Catalogue of Etruscan jewellery with some Roman and Langobardic ornaments in the collection of S.T. Baxter. Florence: Claudian Press, 1886. no. 170b, p. 17.
Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell'arte italiana: Volume 2, Dall'arte Barbarica alla Romanica. Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1902. p. 34, fig. 31, 47.
Åberg, Nils, and Ernst Alfred Meyer. Die Franken und Westgoten in der Völkerwanderungszeit. Arbeten utgifna med Understöd af Vilhelm Ekmans Universitetsfond, Vol. 28. Uppsala: A.-B. Akademiska Bokhandeln, 1922. p. 239, fig. 394.
Kuhn, Herbert. "Wichtige Langobardische Funde in Amerikanischen Sammlungen." Ipek 12 (1938). p. 180, pl. 61.
Åberg, Nils. The Occident and The Orient in the Art of the Seventh Century: Volume 1, The British Isles. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand, 1943. pp. 86–87.
Nickel, Helmut. "About the Sword of the Huns and the 'Urepos' of the Steppes." Metropolitan Museum Journal 7 (1973). pp. 134–35, n. 6.
Delogu, Paolo. "Sulla Datazione di Alcuni oggetti in Metallo prezioso dei Sepolcreti Langobardi in Italia." In Atti del Convegno internazionale sul tema: La civiltà dei longobardi in Europa (Roma, 24-26 maggio 1971; Cividale del Friuli, 27-28 maggio 1971). Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 1974. fig. 2, pl. X.
Paroli, Lidia, ed. La necropoli altomedievale di Castel Trosino: Bizantini e Longobardi nelle Marche. Ascoli Piceno: Museo Archeologico Statale, 1995. pp. 18–19, ill. p. 18.
Vallet, Françoise. "Une Tombe de Riche Cavalier Lombard Découverte à Castel Trosino." In La Noblesse romaine et les chefs barbares du IIIe au VIIe siècle, edited by Michel Kazanski, and Françoise Vallet. Rouen: Musée des Antiquités Nationales, 1995. pp. 335–41, fig. 6.
Brown, Katharine R. "If Only the Dead Could Talk: An Update on the East German and Hunnish Jewelry Collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art." In Ancient Jewelry and Archaeology, edited by Adriana Calinescu. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996. pp. 224–34, fig. 2b, ill. p. 225.
Brown, Katharine R., Dafydd Kidd, and Charles T. Little, ed. From Attila to Charlemagne: Arts of the Early Medieval Period in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. p. 143, 338, fig. 13.6.
Paolucci, Giulio. "Il 'Longobardo d'oro' dell'Arcisa: un ritrovamento eccezionale e un giallo archeologico." In Goti e Longobardi a Chiusi, edited by Carla Falluomini. Chiusi: Edizioni Luì, 2009. pp. 169–97, fig. 1, 22.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world, encompassing the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome to the beginning of the Renaissance.