St. Mark’s treasure Dagger known as “St. Peter’s” Damask dagger, hilt with heterogeneous damask work of eastern , but not better identifiable manufacture. Silver support of baroque Venetian manufacture. Total length : 38,5 cm, of which 11,5 hilt and 27 blade. The iron hilt has an oval section, the steel blade is double-edged, slightly bent, with a 6,5 cm spine on its back. Between hilt and blade a thin gold (or gilt) plate with embossed rosettes is inserted. Originally the hilt was richly damascened in silver and it carries over and under (?) letters written in NASKHI. The main surface (of the blade ?) was adorned with a vegetal decoration; some flowers and leafs are still recognizable, but the disposition of designs is not clear anymore. The blade shows in the middle a ridge in relief, with a central silver damask rosette. The letters have no meaning; several characters have only a vague resemblance with Arabic, others are upside down. Any explanation is pure speculation. The gold plate, is clearly European, while hilt and blade are probably Eastern manufacture. The flowers on the hilt remind a XIV cent. work, but the origin is impossible to ascertain (maybe Syrian manufacture ?). The damascene work is rather uncommon: the edges of the surfaces to be damascened are hollow, as it is customary for bronze, but not for iron, where ornamental metal is hammered on the rough surface. Unfortunately the blade is so corroded that is impossible to verify whether both edges and surfaces have been made rough, even though in some places it seems they are. If this is the case, the techniques used for bronze and iron have been employed together: a process never encountered. In any case the work has not been made by a professional. Mr Uhlman, director of the Blade Museum of Solingen wrote on June 6, 1963: “The weapon shows an uncommon form of the blade. It is double-edged, asymmetrical and has a ridge on its high side about one quarter of the blade long. The blade has the characteristics of the dagger (double edge), of the knife (as a tool) and of a dagger/knife (as a weapon, also because of the bending towards the inner part). In the fore part it has the characteristics of a dagger, and close to the hilt those of a knife. Its length makes it also similar to an uncommon spear. It would be therefore interesting to investigate whether the hilt is contemporary to the blade.” Molinier : “The knife came shortly before 1620 in St. Mark’s Treasure. It was thought to be the knife with which St. Peter cut Malco’s ear. On Oct. 11, 1608 it was in possession of a priest (Giovanni Battista Cominello) and on Jan. 3, 1609 was deposited with Cappuccini Fathers. It can be identified as the knife which Alessandro Foscari of St. Simeon left in his will to his cousin Filippo, on condition – should he die without sons – to leave it to the St. Peter’s church (and this happened on April 8, 1559). Since 1697 the knife has been considered as that used by Christ at the Last Supper, but in 1845 it was not regarded as such any more and transferred from the relics to the St . Mark’s Treasure.”