time of the Romans, all over Europe, for the excellence of its
sword-blades and the martial temper of its people, is hardly represented
in this knightly arsenal. The major portion of the exhibits proceeded
from Italian and Bavarian workshops. Historically the collection is less
valuable than our ill-arranged armoury at the Tower. It includes few
pieces anterior to the last years of the fifteenth century, and none at
all of the fourteenth. The student comes here to view not the evolution,
but the highest expression of the armourer’s craft. Those who have the
time will of course examine the exhibits piece by piece in the order
they are described in the admirable but decidedly bulky catalogue to
which I have referred. Those who regard the great armour-smiths as great
artists--and such they were--will prefer to examine their works
separately and so to familiarise themselves with the technique and style
peculiar to each.
Koloman Colman, surnamed “Helmschmied,” was the greatest of the famous
Augsburg family. Of the many superb suits he made for Charles, no fewer
than seven are in the Royal Armoury. The earliest of these (numbered A.
19) may be identified by the monogram K. D. stamped boldly on the
pike-guard of the left shoulder. The letters stand for Karolus Dux, the
wearer being at that time (about 1514) only Duke of Burgundy and heir to
the crowns of Spain. The suit belongs to the older, more graceful style
of the fifteenth century, but the tendency to exaggeration, which, later
on, became so pronounced, is seen in the size of the shoulder-guards or
pauldrons and of the shoes or sollerets. Every part of the body is
protected by plates of steel, except the throat, the armpits, and the
space between the tassets or thigh-guards, which are defended with
chain-mail. The well-shaped helmet is of the close-fitting armet type,
composed of several pieces. The breastplate is ridged down the middle,
and decorated with the engraved collar of the Golden Fleece. The combs
or elbow pieces are beautifully made, and over the right armpit is one
of the pretty round pieces called rondels or palettes. This is missing
on the left arm, where the huge pike-guard or pauldron covers the whole
shoulder and left breast. Note the detachable lance-rest, engraved with
the armourer’s mark and the Double Eagle. The decoration of the suit is
chaste and tasteful, the borders of the various pieces being adorned
with diamond-shaped reliefs. In itself light and elastic enough for wear
in the field, the suit could be strengthened and supplemented at will
for the tilt and tournament. The extra pieces are shown on a separate
mounted figure (A. 26). The enormous arm-guards are, of course confined
to the left or exposed side. Heavy clumsy pieces such as these left less
opportunity for a display of the smith’s skill than the barding or
horse-armour. This is singularly beautiful and was the work (says the
learned author of the catalogue) of Daniel Hopfer, who often assisted
Colman. The plates are gilded and etched with devices of the Golden
Fleece, the Rose, and the Pomegranate. Hopfer is also credited with the
curious concave target to be screwed to the shoulder at tournaments (A.
37), which is trellised or divided by intersecting ridges to break the
point of an enemy’s lance. The spaces are engraved with much skill with
herons attacking an eagle, which clutches one in its talons. If this, as
it seems to be, is an allusion to the alliances promoted by Francis I.
against the Emperor after the Treaty of Madrid, it shows that the
shield must have been made long after the suit.
The horse-armour of the harnesses (A. 37-38), on the contrary, seems to
have been made for the Emperor Maximilian, and were etched by Burgmaier,
a celebrated engraver of his time. They are most elaborately decorated.
The ear-coverings of the one are shaped like rams’ horns; and the
poitrel (or breastplate) is embossed with grotesque faces. The
crupper-plates are decorated with compositions representing Biblical
episodes--David killing Goliath and Samson slaying the Philistines. If
the second suit belonged to the mighty Maximilian, the forehead-plate
must have been added later, as it bears the motto “Plus Oultre,” first
adopted by Charles.
We come next to the five harnesses made between 1519 and 1539 for the
Emperor by the Augsburg firm. They are alike decorated with ornamental
bands in the direction of their greatest length and exhibit little
difference in design. Two, however, are distinguished by the ugly
lamboys or bases, a kilting of armour introduced about this time to
satisfy the craze for novelty and extravagance. One of these is called
the oak-leaf suit, from the predominant device in the ornamentation. It
is Helmschmied’s own work--probably about 1520. The various pieces are
distributed over three separate figures (A. 49-56-57). The breastplate
becomes globose, the rondels are replaced on both shoulders by the less
graceful pike-guards. No less than six extra pieces are shown that could
be attached to the helmet. Though we may regret the departure from the
elegant simplicity of the older style, our admiration is excited by the
exquisite skill displayed in the articulation of the gorget and the
bases--made as flexible as if they were of silk. Their plates are
detachable, and beneath the steel kilt were worn breeches of the same
metal, wonderfully laminated and allowing the utmost freedom to the
limbs. The bands common to all the suits exhibit a great variety of
detail. Griffins, amorini, nymphs, grotesques, heraldical devices,
flowing scrolls, floral emblems, hunting scenes, are all introduced and
interwoven with an ingenuity only exceeded by the delicacy of their
execution. The helmet at A. 57 is lightly and beautifully relieved with
the figures of Centaurs and serpents fighting.
Another beautiful headpiece, of the Burgonet type, is shaped like a
dolphin’s head, and blackened and damascened. It is no doubt an example
of Hopfer’s skill. The same hand may be traced in the decoration of the
armet of the suit numbered A. 75. The reinforcing piece, in the form of
an eagle’s head and beak, was in the possession of Sir Richard Wallace,
and by him given to his Catholic Majesty.
Helmschmied, who, as Count de Valencia has proved, visited Spain in
1525, died in 1532. The last harness he made for the Emperor (A. 108)
illustrates a transition in the fashion of armour. The tassets or
hip-plates now extend down to the knee, and tend to assume the
“lobster-tail” form as worn by Cromwell’s Ironsides.
Desiderius Colman lacked the genius of his father. On the Cornucopia
suit (A. 115-117), so called from the emblem predominating in the
decoration, we recognise a close and successful imitation of
Helmschmied’s work. The vertical bands were insisted upon by the
Emperor, as they apparently added to his height. The figure, A. 164,
looks as if he had stepped out of Titian’s picture at the Prado. It is
made up of the harness he wore at the battle of Muhlberg in 1547. The
pieces are inlaid with gold and delicately etched. Desiderius made this
armour in 1544, and immediately after began work upon a suit for Prince
Philip, according to designs supplied by Don Diego de Arroyo. The
harness differs little from those worn by the Emperor. It is furnished
with “bases” and with very flexible articulated leg-armour. The
genouillères or separate knee-plates disappear, but the graceful rondels
at the armpits, and coudes or elbow pieces are retained. On the next
figure is shown a very fine tilting helm in three pieces, and next to
this again, a headpiece of the “morion” type fluted and delicately
etched.
The suit numbered A. 217-A. 230 should be familiar to visitors to the
Prado. Philip, as heir apparent, is shown wearing it in Titian’s picture
(No. 454) and by Rubens (No. 1607). The Count of Benavente is
represented in it by Velazquez (1090). Designed by Arroyo, the harness,
which is composed of more pieces than any other in the collection, was
made in 1549. The history of Philip’s magnificent armour (A. 239-A. 242)
as related by the Count de Valencia, is of some interest. Hitherto
Colman’s superiority to other armourers of the time had been
acknowledged only as regarded field and tilting armour--the plainer and
tougher work, in short. Burning to eclipse his Milanese competitors in
their own line and to produce a harness of the most ornate character,
Colman looked about for an assistant and found one in Georg Sigman, an
artificer of skill, whom the municipality of Augsburg had hitherto
refused to enrol as a master of his craft. Colman promised his powerful
influence to the aspirant, and together they turned out the fine suit we
see. The cuirass and all the pieces, except the jambs, coudes and
vambraces, are composed of overlapping plates. The decoration is
tasteful, consisting of longitudinal bands of blackened steel, etched
with grotesques and foliage. The coudes are embossed and gilded with
female figures upholding the order of the Golden Fleece, attended by
warriors. The genouillères are decorated with masks and satyrs. Note the
little brayette at the meeting of the limbs, a piece, stupidly enough,
rarely shown in English collections. The helmet or burgonet is richly
chased with classical compositions, with cartouches, wreaths, and
foliage. Upon it the name of Colman and the date 1552 are stamped in
full, with the initials and mark of his collaborator.
The spirit of rivalry, of which this noble panoply is the offspring, is
expressed very plainly on the shield (A. 241) attached thereto. It is
circular, of one piece, blackened, and embossed. Round the boss runs a
laurel wreath, with the name of the maker and the date. On the surface
are disposed four medallions, encircled by wreaths and designed
respectively with allegorical representations of Strength, Victory,
Wisdom, and Peace. The intermediate space is lavishly adorned with
figures, masks, and foliage, and cartouches. Less skilfully executed are
the designs round the rim, where Colman has presumptuously symbolised
his supposed triumph over his Milanese competitor by a composition in
which a bull overthrows a man bearing a shield marked “Nigrol.” The
shield will certainly not bear comparison with the Italian’s work or
even with the suit to which it is attached, but in fairness to the
German, it must be said that it is evidently unfinished. It wants the
grip and the attachments for the lining. The saddle at A. 242 is the
finer work, and is adorned with the figure of Aphrodite attended by
Cupids. This is the latest specimen of the work of Desiderius Colman
preserved to us. He was living in 1575 (says Dr Wendelin Boeheim), but
when or where he died we know not.
Little is known of Sigmund Wolf, except that he was living at Landshut
in Bavaria as late as 1554, and was the teacher of Franz Grosschedel,
another armour-smith of repute. To him is ascribed the harness made for
Philip II., and styled the Burgundy Cross suit. The decoration consists
in ornamented bands as usual, on the breastplate of one figure being
engraved the figure of the Madonna. Another suit by the same maker (A.
243-262) includes no fewer than eighty-five pieces, all of which are not
at Madrid. The inordinate number of tilting-pieces show Philip’s
fondness for martial exercises. The weight of the armour when complete
would have been 37 kilogrammes. The helm is a superb example of Wolf’s
skill and the leg armour reveals his eye for symmetry. A manteau d’armes
or target is screwed to the left shoulder, as was usual in tilting
suits.
The armour with the lobster-tail tassets worn by the ill-fated Infante
Carlos, son of Philip II., at the age of thirteen or fourteen, is
attributed by Boeheim to Wilhelm von Worms of Nuremberg, and by Valencia
(with a greater show of probability, it seems to me) to one of Wolf’s
successors and namesakes. It is interesting to remark the difference in
size of the left and right pauldrons, a proof that the prince was
slightly deformed, as has so often been alleged. It is unfortunate that
the armour of our own Richard III. has not been preserved, to set at
rest the vexed question of his physical conformation.
The fecundity of Bavaria in great armour-smiths about this time proves
the truth of the adage that, given a Mæcenas, Maros will not be
wanting. Perhaps the most magnificent suit in the whole armoury is No.
A. 270, interesting doubly as having been made for that darling of
romance, Dom Sebastian of Portugal, by the gifted craftsman, Anton
Peffenhauser of Augsburg.
Boeheim has brought to light several details of this great artificer’s
life. Born at Munich in 1525, he was working twenty-two years later in
Augsburg, where he married, first Regine Meixner, and secondly twenty
years later, Regine Eitler (probably the sister of Susanne Eitler, who
married “Helmschmied” in 1565). His skill, and possibly his connection
with the Patriarch of the craft, procured Peffenhauser many exalted
patrons. In 1566 he was at work on a blackened harness for Kaiser
Maximilian II., and ten years later we find him attached to the
electoral court of Saxony. Specimens of his work are to be seen at
Dresden, Vienna, and St Petersburg. The present suit was made about
1576. A medal preserved at Prague portrays Peffenhauser as a man of
mature years, stern and dignified in countenance, with a pronouncedly
aquiline nose and full beard.
Dom Sebastian’s armour, says the Count of Valencia, is Peffenhauser’s
masterpiece, and places him on a level with, if not above, the greatest
German armourers of his time. True, he falls into the mistake of
over-ornamentation, and his figures are incorrectly designed, but the
composition and embossing are bolder than Colman’s, and, above all, his
chiselling is of inimitable precision and clearness. As to the style of
decoration, on comparing the capricious combinations of figures,
scrolls, and other devices, with the designs published by Hefner
Altenech, we are inclined to believe that it was the work of Hans
Mielich of Munich (born 1516, died 1573), or some other German artist of
the same date and equal ability.
The suit consists of burgonet, breastplates, and backplates, gorget,
pauldrons, rere and vambraces, coudes, gauntlets, taces, lobster-tail
tassets, genouillères, and jambs. The nails, clasps, and plume-holder
are gilded. The burgonet, wrought in one piece, is beautifully embossed
with allegorical and mythological figures and with a battle-scene in
which elephants are introduced--an allusion, doubtless, to the
Portuguese conquests in the Indies. Mythological compositions also adorn
the longitudinal bands traversing the suit from neck to ankle. The
pauldrons, or shoulder-plates, display a bewildering and marvellous
profusion of ornamented work. The elbow-guards are adorned with reliefs
of the Cardinal Virtues, the knee-plates with beautiful emblematic
groups. Thinking of this suit when still brightly burnished and gilded,
one fancies that it was thus arrayed that Milton’s archangels went forth
to battle for the lordship of the heavens.
It is now time to examine the productions of the Italian schools of
armourership. The most formidable competitors of the Augsburg family
were the celebrated Missaglias of Milan, who became known exclusively by
the name of Negroli from the year 1515 onwards. Herr Boeheim has found
traces of a Tommaso da Missaglia, who was working at Milan in 1415. His
son, Antonio, made a suit for the last Aragonese King of Naples. Some
specimens of his handiwork are to be seen in Vienna. The members of the
family with whom “Helmschmied” and his son were called upon to compete
were Filippo, Giacomo, and Francesco Negroli. The suit A. 139, forged at
Milan in 1539, and worn by Charles V., is surpassed in purity of outline
and excellence of workmanship by no other in the collection. There is no
trace here of the decadence of the craft. It is at once distinguished
from the German suits by the horizontal direction of the bands. It was
originally blackened, so as to show up the gold and silver of the
decoration. The morion is surmounted by a laurelled comb, on each side
of which run wide bands of gold damascening that meet in front to form a
fantastic face in relief. Hence the name “de los mascarones” sometimes
given to this harness. The date and maker’s names are stamped on the
border. Over the helmet could be placed a re-inforcing piece or “coif”
shaped like a serpent with scales of gold. The breastplate is adorned
with a medallion, containing an image of the Virgin. The shoulder,
elbow, and knee pieces all deserve close examination for their admirable
enrichment with lions’ heads, scrolls, and foliations.
The skill of the Negrolis must be judged, apart from this suit, by
separate pieces of armour. We have, first, the helmet and target
presented to the Emperor by the Duke of Mantua in 1533. The former is
moulded in the likeness of a human head--said to be Charles’
own--covered with golden curls, and encircled over the brow by a laurel
wreath. The beavor is in the form of a curly beard, the lips showing
above it. This cleverly executed, but tasteless, helmet bears the name
of Negroli, and the date 1533. The target, made to match, has a lion’s
head and mane at the boss, and a wide border, where medallions with the
Imperial arms are shown upheld by griffins and interwoven amid foliage.
Another Burgonet (D. 30), made for the Emperor by the same hands, forged
in one piece and exquisitely damascened, is surmounted by the figure of
a recumbent turbaned warrior--emblematic of the Ottoman Empire--whose
fierce mustachios are firmly grasped by two female figures, representing
Fame and Victory. Far exceeding these pieces in dignity and simplicity
of conception, and in vigour and accuracy of execution, is the famous
Medusa shield (D. 64) presented to Charles by the Municipality of Milan
upon his entrance into the city in 1541. The Gorgon’s head, daringly and
vigorously embossed, is super-imposed on the centre of the shield, and
confined within a broad laurel wreath. Outside this again are three
concentric bands. The first, narrow and richly inlaid with the precious
metals; the second, blackened and divided into sections by panels
bearing the inscription, “Is terror quod virtus anima e fortuna paret”;
the third, damascened like the first, and divided by medallions
containing the Imperial insignia. The rim is moulded into the form of a
laurel wreath. Negroli’s name is shown on the steel grip. This is
considered one of the very finest shields ever forged by an armourer.
The swords (G. 33, 34) are believed to be the work of the same hands.
Their middle surfaces and ricassi are inlaid with gold. The hilt of one
terminates in a beautiful volute, of the other in a facetted pommel.
The helmet, attributed in the old catalogues to Boabdil (D. 12), issued
from the same workshop. It is forged in one piece and could be
strengthened by a complete set of re-inforcing pieces for tilt and
tournament. Probably it would have interested us more if the old
tradition as to its ownership had not been discredited.
Great potentates in the sixteenth century were fond of appearing in
Roman garb. Charles V. was the possessor of a suit of armour of this
character, presented to him by the Duke of Urbino, and made by
Bartolommeo Campi of Pesaro. This armourer, after enjoying the patronage
of several crowned heads, served in the army of the Duke of Alba as an
engineer, and fell at the siege of Haarlem in 1573. The harness is
composed of seven pieces of blackened steel, damascened and ornamented
with bronze gilt. The cuirass, a wonderful work of art, is modelled on
the muscles of the male breast, and on it is super-imposed the head of
Medusa finished off with spiral volutes. At the shoulders are lions’
heads, with fierce rolling eye-balls. The cuirass is fringed with a row
of hanging bronze medallions, showing classic heads, masks, and other
devices, beloved of the Renaissance artificer. Cothurni with satyrs’
heads at the point, and a Bœotian casque superbly enriched, complete
this splendid antique costume.
The work of another eminent Italian artist is to be seen at A. 112. It
was presented to Charles by the Duke of Mantua and forged by Caremolo
Mondrone of Milan (1489-1543). It possesses an historic interest, as the
suit in which the Emperor made his entry into Tunis. Though the
decorative work has all but disappeared, the close fit and flowing lines
recall the best days of the armourer’s craft.
The next suit (A. 114) also testifies by the extreme delicacy of the
azziminia in imitation of Kufic inscriptions, to the wonderful skill of
the same artificer.
That the very greatest artists were not unwilling to co-operate in the
decoration of arms is attested by the magnificent “Plus Ultra” shield
designed by Giulio Romano, who was living in Mantua in those days. It is
forged in a single piece of steel and the whole surface is chiselled
with an elaborate composition. In the centre is seen the Emperor, in his
Roman suit, upholding the Imperial Eagle and standing upright in a
vessel, at the prow of which is Fame. Over his head Victory hovers.
Hercules, more to the left, shoulders his Pillars, and prepares to
follow the Emperor in his onward course, to the obvious consternation of
Neptune. Below the boat a river-god is seated near the figure of Africa
or America, bound and enslaved. This is certainly one of the most
remarkable productions of the armourer’s art anywhere to be seen.
The armour at one time in the possession of Charles and his son is
naturally the most interesting in the collection. The suits made for
their successors illustrate the decline of the artistic movement. The
harness was now worn chiefly for display. The connection between Spain
and Bavaria was severed, and the days had long gone when Toledo blades
were esteemed the finest weapons the world could produce. The suits made
for Philip III., when Infante, by Lucio Piccinino of Milan, is worthy of
the earlier period. It is profusely decorated with reliefs and
azziminia. The burgonet is embossed with three masks, another appearing
in the centre of the breastplate, above a panel containing a figure of
Victory and upheld by two male figures. The other pieces (many of which
are wanting) were all similarly adorned. The horse’s barding exhibits a
similar wealth of ornamentation.
Turned out in Spain itself at the Royal Arsenal of Pamplona in Navarre,
in the year 1620, is the armour catalogued under the numbers A. 350-353.
This was a suit intended for presentation by Philip III. to the Duke of
Savoy, and is lavishly decorated. A curious feature of the next suit,
also made in Navarre, is the seven indentations made by the bullets of
an arquebus. Each is set with stones. These marks were intended to
attest the thickness of the steel, but they do rather the contrary, for
the backplate has been completely perforated. We are reminded of Don
Quixote’s attempts to satisfy himself of the toughness of his helmet.
At A. 13-20 are shown six charming little suits made for the boy
princes, Philip, Ferdinand, and Charles. They are composed of closed
helmets, gorgets, cuirasses, and the usual arm-guards. The surface is
blued and divided diagonally by foliations between which appear the
emblems of Spain and the Golden Fleece.
The suit made for the Infante Baltasar Carlos (1629-1646) is little
more than a costly toy, and preserves its gilding and blackening
unimpaired. The suits A. 369 and A. 394 are historically interesting, as
having been worn in the field by Prince Emmanuele Filiberto of Savoy,
the victor of St Quentin, and Don Juan José, natural son of Philip IV.,
respectively.
The splendidly engraved collar and gorget catalogued as A. 434-441, are
now known to portray the siege of Ostend (1601-1604) and battle of
Nieuport (1600). The details are executed with marvellous clearness, and
reflect the greatest credit on the unknown artificer. The horseman in
the centre group on the gorget is probably the Archduke Albrecht, who
distinguished himself by his valour in the battle. These pieces were
worn over a buff jerkin, such as clothed Cromwell’s Ironsides.