Close Helmet in Maximilian Style (c. 1520): Art, History and Details

Close Helmet in Maximilian Style (c. 1520) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The regular fluting of this helmet is a style known as "Maximilian," named after Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1493–1519). Besides being decorative the fluting is a strengthening device that works similar to corrugated metal. This decoration would have been costly as it was time consuming to produce and required precise work. It would have only been available to the wealthiest of clients.

Object facts

• Title: Close Helmet in Maximilian Style
• Date: c. 1520
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: steel and brass
• Dimensions: Overall: 30.5 x 21.8 x 32 cm (12 x 8 9/16 x 12 5/8 in.)
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1916.1855

A detail from the museum

Known as the "Last Knight," Maximilian played a prominent role in this history of armor by building up the armament industry and fostering the modernization of the armorer's craft.

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].
• Gilchrist, Helen Ives. 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: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924.
• Gilchrist, Helen Ives, and Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art. 2nd ed., 1948.

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.