The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2025

Half of a set of steel armor including the helmet and arm, chest, and torso armor. The armor is detailed in etchings of patterns and figures. It also contains a reddish-purple belt and red velvet fittings that peek out from the chest, forearm, and bottom of the torso areas.

Half Armor for the Foot Tournament

c. 1590
(Italian, active 1572–93)
Italy, Milan
etched and gilded steel, brass rivets, leather and velvet fittings
Overall: 31.7 x 27.7 x 21.6 cm (12 1/2 x 10 7/8 x 8 1/2 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1996.299
Location: 210A Armor Court

Did You Know?

Pompeo della Cesa was the Armani or Gucci of the 1500s; everyone wanted to wear him.

Description

This armor was designed for the foot tournament, an event that was separate from the equestrian jousts popularized during the Middle Ages and still favored among Renaissance aristocracies throughout Europe. Foot tournaments were commonly fought over a barrier that separated the combatants and gave protection to their legs, so a half-armor such as this one provided sufficient protection. The original owner of this suit would have worn it with colorful puffed and slashed britches and hose. The use of outlandish accessories, such as a large ostrich feather plume (a brass plume holder may be seen on the back of the helmet) and red velvet pickadils between the steel plates, provided additional splendor.
  • Durlacher Firm, London, England
    ?-1951
    Edward Hubbard Litchfield (1845-1930), New York, NY
    December 5-6, 1951
    (Arms & Armor, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, December 5-6, 1951, Lot 123)
    Leopold Blumka (1897-1973), New York, NY
    Eric Vaule (b. 1938), Bridgewater, Connecticut
    ?-1996
    (Peter Finer, Warwickshire, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1994-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc. The Important Collection of Arms and Armor, Mainly XV-XIX Century. 1951. Cat. No. 123, pp. 32-33
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “Renaissance Armor, Early Islamic Ceramic, French Vase, Gleitsman Painting Added to Museum Collection,” December 13, 1996, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art Annual Report, 1996. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1997. p. 47, p. 34
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. Cat. no. 6, p. 182
    May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: no. 32, p. 36
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. p. 80, Cat. No. 7, p. 162
    Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. München: Hirmer, 2007. p. 284, repr. p. 285, no. 107
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 298-299, no. 114
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 283
  • Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008).
    Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Half Armor for the Foot Tournament|url=false|author=Pompeo della Cesa|year=c. 1590|access-date=24 April 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1996.299