Demi-Chanfron (c. 1550): Art, History and Details

Demi-Chanfron (c. 1550) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The chanfron, head defense for a horse, was introduced in the 1300s. It included two side pieces to protect the cheeks. In the 16th and 17th centuries, when armor failed to protect against firearms, it assumed greater importance as ornament. For this reason the demi (or half) chanfron covered the forehead of the horse but extended, like this one, only halfway down the nose. The Habsburg Spanish Court was served by the armorers of Augsburg in the 16th century. This impressively decorated piece, by tradition, is said to have once belonged to Philip II of Spain (1527–1598).

Object facts

• Title: Demi-Chanfron
• Date: c. 1550
• Culture: Germany, Augsburg
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: steel, etched and gilded; leather
• Dimensions: Overall: 6.8 x 24.5 cm (2 11/16 x 9 5/8 in.)
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1916.1526

A detail from the museum

A knight depended on his horse as both a weapon and a means of defense, and thus went to great lengths to care for and protect his charger.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• Galerie Georges Petit, Paris. Armes & Armures. June 10-14, 1895. Lot 88.
• 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.

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.