  
  About the Artwork
  
  
  The steel guard that protected the left hand of the owner of this dagger was pierced to form lacelike patterns of foliage, flowers, and fantastical animals. Near the blade, the maker hid a Latin signature along the edge of the lush decoration; it reads, Laurentius Palumbo de Neapoli fecit [Lorenzo Palumbo of Naples made this]. Although many daggers of this type survive from seventeenth-century Italy, where they were popular among nimble fencers who wielded them alongside slender rapiers, few bear the names of their creators. Palumbo&acirc;&#128;&#153;s signature suggests the pride he took in this refined work&acirc;&#128;&#153;s balance of form and function.
  
  
  Title
  Parrying Dagger for the Left Hand
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1661
  
  
  
  
  Makers
  
  
  (Artist)
  Italian
  Lorenzo Palumbo  (Maker)
  Italian
  
  
  
  Medium
  Steel
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 17 1/2 &Atilde;&#151; 10 7/16 &Atilde;&#151; 3 3/8 inches (44.5 &Atilde;&#151; 26.5 &Atilde;&#151; 8.6 cm)
  Overall (blade): 12 1/2 inches (31.8 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Arms and Armor
  
  
  Department
  European Sculpture and Dec Arts
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of William Randolph Hearst Foundation
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum&acirc;&#128;&#153;s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems&acirc;&#128;&#148;no longer assigned&acirc;&#128;&#148;that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  53.216
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
  
  
  
