This masterpiece of Renaissance metalwork is signed on the browplate by Filippo Negroli, whose embossed armor was praised by sixteenth-century writers as "miraculous" and deserving "immortal merit." Formed of one plate of steel and patinated to look like bronze, the bowl is raised in high relief with motifs inspired by classical art. The graceful mermaid-like siren forming the helmet's comb holds a grimacing head of Medusa by the hair. The sides of the helmet are covered with acanthus scrolls inhabited by putti, a motif ultimately derived from ancient Roman sculpture and wall paintings.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Left
Right
Interior
Interior
Right
Left
Top
Detail of peak, showing Medusa
Detail of right side, winged putto emerging from flower
Detail of left side, winged putto emerging from flower
Detail of signature on brow plate
Detail of back
3/4 left
Artwork Details
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Title:Burgonet
Armorer:Filippo Negroli (Italian, Milan ca. 1510–1579)
Date:dated 1543
Geography:Milan
Culture:Italian, Milan
Medium:Steel, gold, textile
Dimensions:H. 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm); W. 7 5/16 in. (18.6 cm); D. 11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm); Wt. 4 lb. 2 oz. (1871 g)
Classification:Helmets
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Object Number:17.190.1720
Inscription: Signed on the brow plate, in gold: PHILIPP NEG ROLV FECIT MCXXXXIII (the date is mistakenly written as 1143 instead of 1543).
Sir Bernard Brocas, Wokefield Park, Sharnbrook, Berkshire, England (until 1834; sale, George Robins, London, March 19, 1834, no. 366, for £29.8, to Roussel); [Monsieur Roussel, Paris, from 1834]; Honoré d'Albert, 8th duc de Luynes, Château de Dampierre, France (until d. 1867); by descent to Charles Honoré Emmanuel d'Albert, 9th duc de Luynes, Château de Dampierre (1867–d. 1870); by descent to Honoré d'Albert, 10th duc de Luynes, Château de Dampierre (1870–at least 1905); [Jacques Seligmann and Company, Paris, until 1907; sold on April 29, 1907, for £13,200, to Morgan]; J. Pierpont Morgan, New York (1907–17; his gift to MMA).
Paris. Palais de la Présidence du Corps Législatif. "Notice Sommaire des Objets d'Art Exposés dans le Palais de la Présidence du Corps Législatif, le 23 Avril 1874, au Profit des Alsaciens-Lorrains en Algérie," April 23, 1874, no. 18.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Loan Exhibition of Arms and Armor," February 6–April 16, 1911, no. 60.
Detroit. The Detroit Institute of Arts. "Decorative Arts of the Italian Renaissance, 1400–1600," November 18, 1958–January 4, 1959, no. 204.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "In the Presence of Kings: Royal Treasures from the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 19–September 4, 1967, no. 15.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries," November 14, 1970–June 1, 1971, no. 227.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Heroic Armor of the Italian Renaissance: Filippo Negroli and his Contemporaries," October 8, 1998–January 17, 1999, no. 33.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Making The Met, 1870–2020," August 29, 2020–January 3, 2021.
Vienna. Kunsthistorisches Museum. "Iron Men: Mode in Stahl / Iron Men: Fashion in Steel," March 29–June 26, 2022, no. 141.
Robins, George. Ancient Arms and Armour. London: George Robins, March 19–22, 1834. no. 366.
Société de Protection des Alsaciens et Lorrains Demeurés Français. Notice Sommaire Des Objets D'art: Exposés Dans Le Palais De La Présidence Du Corps Législatif, Le 23 Avr. 1874, Au Profit Des Alsaciens-Lorrains En Algérie. Paris: J. Glaye, 1874. p. 107, no. 18, ill.
Guérinet, Armand. Le Château Historique de Dampierre: Reproductions en Phototypie; Intérieurs des Appartements de Réception, Détails de Sculpture Ornementale, Mobilier Historique, Peintures, Statues, Cheminées, Bronzes d'Art, etc., etc.. Paris: Armand Guérinet, 1905. pl. 9.
Dean, Bashford, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Arms and Armor: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, February the Sixth to April the Sixteenth. New York: Gilliss Press, 1911. no. 60, pl. XXX.
Dean, Bashford. Notes on Arms and Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1916. pp. 131–34, figs. 1–4.
Dean, Bashford. "Mr. Morgan's Milanese Casque." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (April 1916), pp. 86–89, figs. 1–4.
Dean, Bashford. "Recent Acquisitions: The Negroli Casque." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 13, no. 5 pp. 118–19.
Laking, Guy Francis, Charles A. de Cosson, and Francis Henry Cripps-Day. A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries. Vol. IV. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1920–1922. pp. 145–50, figs. 1232a, b.
Dean, Bashford. Handbook of Arms and Armor : European and Oriental, Including the William H. Riggs Collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3rd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 1921. pp. 71, 152, pl. XXXI.
Dean, Bashford, and Robert T. Nichol. Handbook of Arms and Armor : European and Oriental, edited by Stephen V. Grancsay. 4th ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 1930. pp. 132–33, 301, figs. 83–84.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Historical Armor: A Picture Book. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. pp. 1, 4, pl. 3.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Historical Armor: A Picture Book. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1946. pp. 1, 4, pl. 3.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Historical Armor: A Picture Book. 3rd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1951. pp. 1, 4, pl. 3.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Historical Armor: A Picture Book. 4th ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1957. pp. 1, 4, pl. 3.
Mayor, A. Hyatt. "The Gifts that Made the Museum." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 16, no. 3 p. 90, ill.
Detroit Institute of Arts and Paul L. Grigaut. Decorative Arts of the Italian Renaissance, 1400–1600: [exhibition] the Detroit Institute of Arts, November 18, 1958–January 4, 1959. Detroit: The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1958. p. 96, no. 204, ill.
Thomas, Bruno, and Ortwin Gamber. "L'Arte Milanese dell'Armatura." Storia di Milano XI p. 788, ill.
Aroldi, Aldo M. Armi e Armature Italiane Fino al XVIII Secolo. Milan: Bramante Editrice, 1961. fig. 173.
Blackmore, Howard. Arms and Armour. Dutton Vista Pictureback. London: Studio Vista, 1965. pp. 96–97, ill. p. 96.
Boccia, Lionello G., and Eduardo T. Coelho. L'Arte dell'Armatura in Italia. Milan: Bramante Editrice, 1967. p. 323, no. 272, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. In the Presence of Kings: Royal Treasures from the Collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1967. no. 15, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. Warriors and Worthies: Arms and Armor Through the Ages. New York: Atheneum, 1969. p. 78, ill.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Kenneth Clark. Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1970. p. 227, no. 227, ill.
Rousseau Jr., Theodore. "Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 29, no. 3 p. 134, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. "Orders of Chivalry." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (1973–74), p. 106, ill.
Seward, Desmond. Prince of the Renaissance: The Golden Life of François I. New York, 1973. p. 242, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. Ullstein-Waffenbuch: eine kulturhistorische Waffenkunde mit Markenverzeichnis. Berlin: Ullstein, 1974. p. 128, ill.
Grancsay, Stephen V., and Stuart W. Pyhrr. Arms & Armor: Essays by Stephen V. Grancsay from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 1920–1964. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. pp. 421–439; fig. 107.11.
Nickel, Helmut. "Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 1991), pp. 24, 64, ill.
Boccia, Lionello G. "Le Armature dei Negroli." Poiein / Quaderni di Cultura Artistica del Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione (1993), pp. 5–26, 82–5, ill.
Pyhrr, Stuart W., José-A. Godoy, and Silvio Leydi. Heroic Armor of the Italian Renaissance: Filippo Negroli and His Contemporaries. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998. pp. 180–84, no. 33, ill.
Williams, Alan R. "The Steel of the Negroli." Metropolitan Museum Journal (1999), p. 105, figs. 5–6.
Strouse, Jean, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "J. Pierpont Morgan, Financier and Collector." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, (Winter 2000), pp. 36–37, fig. 40.
Williams, Alan. The Knight and the Blast Furnace: A History of the Metallurgy of Armour in the Middle Ages & the Early Modern Period. History of Warfare, Vol. 12. Leiden: Brill, 2002. p. 253, ill.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Thomas P. Campbell. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. p. 163, ill.
Pyhrr, Stuart W. "Of Arms and Men: Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan, 1912–2012." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 2012), pp. 18, 47, fig. 24.
La Rocca, Donald J. How to Read European Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017. pp. 118–20, figs. 131–2.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Andrea Bayer, Laura D. Corey, Morrison H. Heckscher, Katharine Baetjer, Joan R. Mertens, and Barbara Drake Boehm. Making the Met, 1870–2020. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2020. pp. 76, 247, fig. 69.
Krause, Stefan. Iron Men: Mode in Stahl (Fashion in Steel). Köln: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2022. p. 191, no. 141, ill.
Julie Burstein, host of the Met's conversation series, SPARK, previews the diverse themes she and a panel of artists and Met curators will discuss when the series' second season begins on December 1.
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