Crossbow; Belgium or France, XVIIIth century

Crossbow; Belgium or France, XVIIIth century
Walnut wood and brass applications
Measurements: 88 x 89 cm.

Elegant crossbow made of walnut wood with brass applications. The carved areas of the weapon stand out specially: the hilt and the butt, where the artist has developed a careful decoration with motifs of the "green man". This iconographic element, with a deep symbolic tradition in European art, represents a human face intertwined with foliage and leaves, and is usually interpreted as an allegory of rebirth and the vital cycle of nature, evoking the regeneration of spring.