COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MMA_.24.179_26.188.1,2
AMICA Library Year:
2000
Object Type:
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Creator Name:
Helmschmid, Kolman
Creator Nationality:
European; Northern European; German
Creator Dates/Places:
1471- 1532
Creator Name-CRT:
Kolman Helmschmid
Title:
Portions of a Costume Armor
Title Type:
Object name
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
ca. 1525
Creation Start Date:
1523
Creation End Date:
1527
Materials and Techniques:
Steel, embossed, etched, and gilded
Classification Term:
Armors
Dimensions:
unmeasured
AMICA Contributor:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location:
New York, New York, USA
ID Number:
24.179; 26.188.1,2
Credit Line:
Backplate and rump defense: Gift of Bashford Dean, 1924; Arms: Mrs. Stephen V. Harkness Fund, 1926
Context:
This armor reproduces in steel the extravagant puffed-and-slashed costume of the German 'Landsknechte' (mercenary infantry troops). The matching pieces are preserved in the Musée de l'Armée, Paris. They were originally part of the Radziwill armory in Nieswiez, which was within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania when this armor was made, later became part of Poland, and is now in the Republic of Belarus. This armor was probably commissioned for Jerzy Herkules Radziwill, a powerful Polish nobleman,military commander, and patron of the arts. Kolman Helmschmid, who created the armor, was one of the most sought after craftsmen of his generation, famous for his artistic and technically innovative approach to armor-making.
Related Image Identifier Link:
MMA_.aa24.179-26.188.1-.2.R.tif
