The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Helmet

Helmet

c. 1560–80
steel
Overall: 34.5 x 32 x 22 cm (13 9/16 x 12 5/8 x 8 11/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1502
Location: 210A Armor Court

Did You Know?

Jousting contestants wore armor and charged at each other full speed on horseback, attempting to dismount the other with a lance. Such equipment protected contestants from injury, much like the helmet worn by football players today.

Description

This helmet was developed for the joust, a sporting combat of arms between two mounted contestants. This example shows the asymmetry of jousting armor. The participants rode along a wall-like barrier known as a "tilt" with their left sides facing. Consequently, armor on that side of the body tended to be thicker. The breath holes in the helmet were placed on the right side (farthest from an opponent's lance) to avoid injuries from splinters. The popularity of jousts and tournaments peaked around 1500 and required armor and other sporting equipment adapted for the endlessly varied games. By the reign of Emperor Maximilian I (1493–1519), there were at least 11 different forms of mounted jousts, exclusive of the numerous ceremonial combats on foot using such weapons as swords, halberds, pikes, and throwing axes. Each blow in the contest, especially favored in Germany, was carefully numbered and prescribed by rules.
  • Saxon Electoral Army, Dresden, Germany
    -1916
    Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900. #319 archive.org
    Hôtel des Ventes, Beauvais. Catalogue des armes & armures, habit de Mestre de Camp composant la collection de M. le Marquis de Belleval et de Licques. Jan 21-23, 1901. Lot 261. Mentioned: p. 27, lot 261 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance, Elizabeth Huntington De Witt Severance, and Helen Ives Gilchrist. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: Cleveland museum of art, 1924. A11 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. color repr. p. 50, cat. no. 1, p. 162
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. p. 182, no. 3
  • Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
    Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
  • {{cite web|title=Helmet|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560–80|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1502