ABSTRACT
But can it be demonstrated that Leonello d'Este was ever given a papal sword, and if so, when? In any given year the normal practice was for the pope to present one rose and one sword only. The golden rose was given on Laetare Sunday, while the sword (which was blessed by the pope and accompanied by a richly ornamented cappello) was presented at Christmas or soon thereafter. 17 Both rose and sword were of-
The papal roses and swords were deluxe objects, regrettably few of which survive. The remarkable craftsmanship that went into making them seems mostly to have been sacrificed over the centuries for their gold, silver, and jewels. Equally regrettable is the fact that the names of so few of the recipients are known. In some cases one can establish that a particular noble received a gift only through the chance survival of a pay record for the artisan who made the object. It is through such pay records, for example, that it has recently been shown that Eugenius gave Niccolo III the sword and cappello at Christmas 1436.21 For others we must depend on later accounts, such as the late seventeenth-century papal archivist who recorded that the Duke ofFetTara was presented with a golden rose by Pope Innocent VIII. 22 These and other similar examples demonstrate just how much work remains to be done on these papal gifts.
