Entirely handwrought of steel, made to order by the highly-skilled armorers of the Doge. The crescent blade with double-line border developing from the triangular poll eye, and superbly chiseled and pierced throughout in Mannerist motifs comprised of a fully-modeled lion-headed beast covered in finely-delineated scales, the tail shifting into elaborate leaves, a Dionysian figure wearing a Phrygian cap and playing a pipe reclining against the forest god, Silenus, crowned with acanthus leaves, a flowing beard and staring eyes, below the face of Pan, with bristling eyebrows, mustaches and beard, and stylized horn-like vines. The reverse chiseled with the owners coat of arms, a bulls head facing on a scalloped shield with billowing bearings against rays of light in a scrolled oval cartouche. The edge and peen showing use in battle.Second half of the 16th century. Minor wear. Such axes were presented to the highest-ranking Venetian naval commanders from the beginning of the sixteenth century, just as maces were used as insignia of authority by cavalry commanders throughout the Renaissance and Early Modern Era. For quite similar see an example sold at auction by Frederik Muller & Cie, Amsterdam, 1899, from the Chateau de Heeswijk, Musee Baron van den Boegarde, lot 998, as well an example in the collection Luigi Nessi, Lugano, Switzerland, exhibited in 2002 at the Museum der Kulturen, Basel. Overall length 14 cm / 5 1/2". Condition II