Close Helmet (c. 1575): Art, History and Details

Close Helmet (c. 1575) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Decoration was critical to fine armor, and etching was the most commonly used technique. Here, the bands along the borders are etched. On the breastplate, pauldrons (shoulder guards), and tassets (hip and upper leg guards), etched medallions enclose profile busts reminiscent of ancient Roman portraits. The lance rest on the breastplate indicates that this half-suit was once part of a complete field armor for man and horse. The etching technique used for armor was developed in the late 1400s. The metal surface was first coated with an acid-resistant substance, such as wax or varnish. An etching needle was then used to scratch a design into the surface. The exposed areas were then treated with an acid that would "bite" or etch the lines into the metal. When the coating was removed, the etched design was blackened for contrast.

Object facts

• Title: Close Helmet
• Date: c. 1575
• Culture: North Italy, Brescia (?), 16th century
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: steel with etched decorative bands and roundels
• Dimensions: Overall: 29.5 x 28.5 x 23 cm (11 5/8 x 11 1/4 x 9 1/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1916.1816.a

A detail from the museum

Etching, by far the most common technique for armor decoration, involved the use of a graving tool assisted by acid to create a design. The etched design could then be blackened to create contrast as shown here.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• Catalogue of Arms and Armour. Vol. 3, 16th century. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], [1900-1915].
• Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.
• Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.