Jousting Shield (Stecktarge) with the Coat of Arms of the City of Deggendorf
1450/60
- Medium
- Wood, iron, leather, canvas, gesso, and paint
- Classification
- Armor
- Dimensions
- 77.5 × 53.3 cm (30 1/2 × 21 in.)
- Culture
- Saxony
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Applied Arts of Europe
- Credit line
- George F. Harding Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This large curved rectangular shield was developed especially for use with a lance. The jouster rested his lance in the cutout opening on the proper right, called a bouche or mouth. Such shields had been common in war, but by the mid-15th century they functioned more often in jousting, as targets. After tournaments these were frequently hung in homes or in public places to celebrate a noble family or, as in this case, a city.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
