![A Trophy of Arms](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/A_Trophy_of_Arms.jpg)
A trophy or trophy of arms in art and architecture is a real or depicted artistically assembled display of weaponry and other militaria, often captured from a defeated enemy, as an
ornament designed for the purpose of triumphalist display by a victor or as a show of military prowess by a monarch. Similar decorative vertical arrangements of hunting accessories, musical instruments or other objects are also commonly referred to as trophies.
The term comes from the ancient Greek ''
tropaion
A tropaion ( el, τρόπαιον, la, tropaeum), from which the English word, " trophy", is derived, was a monument erected to commemorate a victory over one's foes by the ancient Greeks and later, by the Romans. The armour of the defeated fo ...
'' and Roman equivalent ''tropaeum'', military victories which were commemorated with a display of actual captured
arms
Arms or ARMS may refer to:
*Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body
Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to:
People
* Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader
Coat of arms or weapons
*Armaments or weapons
**Fi ...
,
armour
Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...
and
standards Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object th ...
. The use of trophies as an ornament in decoration became popular in the
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
, and as an architectural element in
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
or free-standing sculpture during the
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
era, where they are often used as a kind of
finial
A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature.
In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...
to decorate
roofline
Roofline is used to describe the fascia, soffits, bargeboards, antefixes and cladding that forms the frontage immediately below the roof and the eaves of many homes and buildings. These are traditionally made from wood, but can be made of ...
s, gate columns and other elements of buildings with military associations, which included most royal palaces.
The ''
Triumphs of Caesar
The ''Triumphs of Caesar'' are a series of nine large paintings created by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna between 1484 and 1492 for the Gonzaga Ducal Palace, Mantua. They depict a triumphal military parade celebrating the victor ...
'' by
Andrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini.
Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order ...
(1482–94, now
Royal Collection
The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world.
Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...
) are a series of paintings of the
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph (') was a civil religion, civil ceremony and Religion in ancient Rome, religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the success of a military commander who had led Roman forces to victory in the servi ...
of
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
that soon became enormously influential in
print form. They showed trophies carried on carts and on poles, and
probably gave a big impetus to the trend for
ornament print
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornam ...
s of trophies, which were then copied into a range of media.
Origins
The practice was used in the classical age by the Greeks and Romans.
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
's ''
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...
'' relates the practice of warriors in the
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...
removing the armour and weapons of a killed opponent in order to make an offering to the gods. This was contrasted to mere
booty
Booty may refer to:
Music
*Booty music (also known as Miami bass or booty bass), a subgenre of hip hop
* "Booty" (Jennifer Lopez song), 2014
*Booty (Blac Youngsta song), 2017
* Booty (C. Tangana and Becky G song), 2018
*"Booty", a 1993 song by G ...
. Trophies of arms were commonly depicted on Greek and Roman coins.
In England a tradition of making trophies of arms and armour, designed to display British military prowess, was established in the armoury of the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
from the late 17th century. In about 1700, John Harris created an impressive display in the Grand Storehouse which included a serpent and a seven-headed
Hydra, together with a variety of weapons including muskets, pistols and swords. The antiquarian William Maitland described it as a sight "no one ever beheld without astonishment...not to be matched perhaps in the world".
[http://www.royalarmouries.org/tower-of-london/power-house/dragon]
Constituent elements
Elements commonly depicted within antique trophies of arms include:
*breastplates
*spears
*halberds
*bows
*arrows
*quivers
*lit torches
*swords
*cannon and balls
*captured military standards
*clubs
*heraldry and coats of arms
Gallery
File:AntiqueTrophyOfArms ByHogarth.jpg, Antique trophy of arms, with Scottish bagpipes
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...
, engraving ''circa'' 1750 by William Hogarth
William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like s ...
(1697–1764)
File:Triumph3-Mantegna-bearers-of-trophies-and-bullion.jpg, Scene from the ''Triumphs of Caesar'' by Andrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini.
Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order ...
File:Caesar venustrophy3b.jpg, Roman Denarius
The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very ...
''circa'' 46-45 BC, depicting a trophy of arms ''tropaion
A tropaion ( el, τρόπαιον, la, tropaeum), from which the English word, " trophy", is derived, was a monument erected to commemorate a victory over one's foes by the ancient Greeks and later, by the Romans. The armour of the defeated fo ...
'' from the Gallic Wars
The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their homela ...
of Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
showing a captured Gaul on one side and a mourning female symbolizing Gallia, defeated, on the other
File:Prager Burghof - Tropaion.jpg, Trophy in the 1st courtyard of Prague Castle
Prague Castle ( cs, Pražský hrad; ) is a castle complex in Prague 1 Municipality within Prague, Czech Republic, built in the 9th century. It is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for kin ...
File:Трофей на арке Главного штаба 1.jpg, Trophy at the gate of the General Staff Building (Saint Petersburg)
The General Staff Building (russian: Здание Главного штаба, ''Zdanie Glavnogo Shtaba'') is an edifice with a 580 m long bow-shaped facade, situated on Palace Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in front of the Winter Palace.
T ...
File:Hampton Court Avri 2009 4.jpg, Trophy at the main gate of Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...
File:Peleş Catsle (inside).jpg, Trophies of arms with real weapons and armour at Peleş Castle, Romania
File:Greater coat of arms of Copenhagen.svg, The Coat of arms of Copenhagen
The coat of arms of Copenhagen was granted (under its current form) on 24 June 1661 by king Frederick III of Denmark in appraisal of Copenhagen's citizen's efforts in repelling the Swedish siege and attack in 1658–1659. An accompanying royal ...
doubles as a trophy of arms
File:Coat of arms of Haiti.svg, The Coat of arms of Haiti
The coat of arms of Haiti is the national coat of arms of the Republic of Haiti. It was originally introduced in 1807, and it has appeared in its current form since 1986. Since this Haitian national symbol does not conform to the rules of heraldry ...
See also
*
War trophy __NOTOC__
A war trophy is an item taken during warfare by an invading force. Common war trophies include flags, weapons, vehicles, and art.
History
In ancient Greece and ancient Rome, military victories were commemorated with a display of captu ...
References
External links
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*
{{Ornaments
Iconography
Ornaments
War trophies