At the turn of the sixteenth century, German armorers abandoned the slender lines of the late Gothic style and adopted the fuller, more rounded forms favored in Italy. In the new style, the shallow parallel channels that covered almost the entire armor were not only decorative but actually strengthened the metal. This is often referred to as "Maximilian style" because it was introduced during the time of Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519). Fluted armor appears to have been a specialty of Nuremberg. On this armor the two-piece construction of the breastplate and its pierced decoration, while standard on German Gothic armors, is highly unusual for this period. The waistplates and tassets (upper thigh defenses) are of a later date. The breastplate is stamped with the maker's mark: in a shield, a half lion or a bear above the letters L.B.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Armor
Date:ca. 1520 and later
Geography:Nuremberg
Culture:German, Nuremberg
Medium:Steel, leather
Dimensions:H. as mounted 5 ft. 9 in. (175.26 cm); Wt. 57 lb. 10 oz. (26.15 kg)
Classification:Armor for Man
Credit Line:Gift of Alan Rutherfurd Stuyvesant, 1949
Accession Number:49.163.1a–s
Marking: Marked on the breastplate: in a shield, a half lion or a bear above the letters L.B.;
On the inside of the top lame of each pauldron, and on the interior of the helmet's visor: Nuremberg marks in the form of an N within a pearled circle.
Nuremberg Ex coll.: Sir Henry Valentine, 9th Baron Stafford, Costessey Hall, Norfolk; Baron Charles Alexander de Cosson, Florence; Rutherford Stuyvesant, Allamuchy, New Jersey
London. New Gallery. "Exhibition of the Royal House of Tudor," 1890–April 6, 1890, no. 578 (lent by the Baron de Cosson).
London. South Kensington Museum. "Exhibition of the de Cosson Collection," 1891–93.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Loan Exhibition of Arms and Armor," February 6–April 16, 1911, no. 10 (lent by Mrs. Rutherford Stuyvesant).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Loan Exhibition of European Arms and Armor," August 3–September 27, 1931, no. 5.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg, 1300–1550," April 8–June 22, 1986, no. 267.
Nuremberg. Germanisches Nationalmuseum. "Nürnberg 1300–1550: Kunst der Gotik und Renaissance," July 24–September 28, 1986, no. 267.
Meyrick, Samuel Rush. A Critical Inquiry into Antient [sic] Armour: As It Existed in Europe, Particularly in Great Britain from the Norman Conquest to the Reign of King Charles II.... Vol. III. 2nd ed. London: H. G. Bohn, 1842. p. 115.
Christie, Manson & Woods. Armour & Arms, Oriental, Dresden and Chelsea Porcelain, Decorative Furniture, and Pictures. London: Christie, Manson & Woods, May 28–30, 1885. no. 102.
Cosson, Charles Alexander. "Armour and Arms at the Tudor Exhibition." The Magazine of Art 13 p. 324, ill.
New Gallery. Exhibition of the Royal House of Tudor: The New Gallery, Regent Street. London: The Gallery, 1890. no. 578.
Christie, Manson & Woods. Armour and Arms, or, Catalogue of the Famous Collection of Armour and Arms Formed by That Well-Known Connoisseur, The Baron de Cosson, F.S.A., Which Has Been On Loan to the South Kensington Museum for the Last Two Years. London: Christie, Manson & Woods, May 2–3, 1893. p. 36, no. 240, ill. facing p. 36.
Dean, Bashford. The Collection of Arms and Armor of Rutherford Stuyvesant, 1843–1909. New York: privately printed, 1914. p. 16, no. 12, pls. VI, VII, fig. 12.
Dean, Bashford. Notes on Arms and Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1916. p. 35, ill.
Laking, Guy Francis, Sir, Charles Alexander Cosson, and Francis Henry Cripps-Day. A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries. Vol. III. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1920. p. 250, fig. 1036.
Cripps-Day, Francis Henry. A Record of Armour Sales, 1881–1924. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1925. p. 8.
Grancsay, Stephen V. "The New Galleries of European Arms and Armor." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (May 1956), pp. 208, 217, ill.
Angerer, Martin, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Germanisches Nationalmuseum. Nürnberg, 1300–1550: Kunst der Gotik und Renaissance. 1st ed. Munich: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. p. 458, no. 267.
Grancsay, Stephen V., and Stuart W. Pyhrr. Arms & Armor: Essays by Stephen V. Grancsay from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 1920–1964. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. pp. 421–439; fig. 107.10.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Germanisches Nationalmuseum. Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg, 1300–1550. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 1986. p. 458, no. 267.
Pyhrr, Stuart W. "Of Arms and Men: Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan, 1912–2012." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 2012), pp. 40–41, fig. 66.
La Rocca, Donald J. How to Read European Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017. p. 46, fig. 54.
ca. 1525; left arm defense, 19th century; rondels, 1923
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