Swords in Art -- what is this?

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by motan

Hi David,
I am not an expert on swords at all, and I am sure that other forum members could spin fantastic theories about this sword.
However, this is a very old painting, probably early renaissance, depicting the beheading of a saint, who was probably martyred in the event. Realism is not very strong in paintings from that period. I can not reconize the country of origin the painting or the specific saint, but most of those events happend even much earlier and in places far away.
So there is a good probability that the sword is not of a real type known to the painter, but was born out of his imagination intended to look exotic ..

Good point, and we should expect artistic license as well as inaccurate rendering. Nevertheless, a Russian artist in the 1500's depicted a recurved blade. I wasn't aware the form was that old.