Thank you Philip and Jim for these additional insights. The rich allegorical nature of art is a fascinating study, and is often reflected in the arms we collect. For preliterate communities, and those with a small literate class (as much of the world was until very recently) symbolism was the best way to communicate thru visual forms. Understanding the symbolic language can go a long way to interpreting the culture from which an item originates. There is added utility to our hobby when one considers the wealth of symbols that were engraved, embossed, forged, and chiseled in the steel in which we are so often in pursuit.
Also, I think your conversation hints at the fact that the line between genius and (what we call) madness is often very thin and nebulous. Is this because only madness can create something new? Is it because seeing the world in a new way causes a distance between the visionary and others (Allegory of the Cave)? Is it simply because once someone sees what others cannot, or refuse to see, they simply never feel at home in society any longer? OR, is it simply madness caused by lead. I think the fact that many of our modern artists in all media (music, paint, metal, words) are not exposed to lead, but exhibit many of the same mercurial temperaments speaks to environmental toxins as being merely a concurrent factor, perhaps exacerbating, but not truly causal.
Regardless, without some 'madmen', I'm not sure we'd have the swept hilt, patterned Damascus, Maximillian armor, and the like. Frankly, the meticulous alchemy involved in creating a sound blade would drive most of us mad if operating under the conditions of a smith prior to the 1800s!
I am well pleased that these images have sparked some discussion. Thank you for receiving them with interest
27th August 2020, 12:49 AM
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