Design and Tradition / A short account of the principles and historic development of architecture and the applied arts

by Amor Fenn

Trophies

Groups of weapons used in war and hunting have been employed in a decorative manner. This can be traced to the Greek custom of hanging the weapons abandoned by a fleeing enemy on trees, and to the spoils of victory carried in the Roman triumphal processions.

Such trophies of arms and armour appear in sculptured form as decoration to the Roman arches and military monuments. A custom which was emulated in later times in arsenals, public buildings and tombs.