Kunz Lochner was one of the few Nuremberg armorers of the mid-sixteenth century to achieve an international reputation. His patrons included the Holy Roman Emperor, the dukes of Saxony, and the king of Poland. This man's armor bears the mark of Nuremberg; Lochner's personal mark, a rampant lion; and the date 1548. The armor was originally part of a small garniture that included exchange elements for field and tournament use. Restorations include the cuirass and the gauntlets.
A closely related horse armor also in the Metropolitan Museum's collection (acc. no. 32.69) bears only the Nuremberg mark but can be attributed to Lochner on stylistic grounds. The elaborately embossed and etched decoration of the peytral (chest defense) includes an abbreviated inscription that may be interpreted: 1548 K[rist] I[ch] T[rau] G[anz] V[nd] G[ar] H[ans] E[rnst] H[erzog] Z[u] Sachsen (1548 In Christ I trust wholly, Hans [Johann] Ernst, Duke of Saxony). Duke Johann Ernst (1521–1553) may have commissioned the horse armor for his attendance at the Diet of Augsburg, a political assembly of the German nobility called in 1548 by Charles V to deal with the crisis of the Reformation.
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Equestrian figures, Bloomberg Court, Arms and Armor View 3; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The John Pierpont Morgan Wing: The Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Arms and Armor Court (Gallery 371)
Artwork Details
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Title:Armor from a Small Garniture for Field and Tournament
Dimensions:Wt. approx. 56 lb. (25.4 kg); helmet (a): H. 12 3/8 in. (31.4 cm); W. 8 5/8 in. (21.9 cm); D. 13 in. (33 cm); Wt. 7 lb. 10.15 oz. (3463 g); gorget (b): H. 6 in. (15.2 cm); W. 11 3/4 in. (29.8 cm); D. 10 in. (25.4 cm); Wt. 2 lb. (907 g); breastplate with tassets (c): H. 26 9/16 in. (67.5 cm); W. 21 in. (53.3 cm); D. 8 in. (20.3 cm); Wt. 14 lb. 11.25 oz. (6669 g); lance rest (d): H. 3 in. (7.6 cm); W. 1 13/16 in. (4.6 cm); D. 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm); Wt. 10.25 oz. (291 g); backplate (e): H. 16 1/2 in. (41.9 cm); W. 15 1/4 in. (38.8 cm); D. 7 7/16 in. (18.9 cm); Wt. 5 lb. 11.4 oz. (2591 g); right pauldron (f): H. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm); W. 9 3/4 in. (24.8 cm); D. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm); Wt. 2 lb. 2.5 oz. (978 g); right haute piece (g): H. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm); W. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm); D. 8 in. (20.3 cm); Wt. 6.75 oz. (191 g); left pauldron (h): H. 9 3/4 in. (24.8 cm); W. 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm); D. 10 3/16 in. (25.9 cm); Wt. 2 lb. 5.1 oz. (1051 g); left haute piece (i): H. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm); W. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm); D. 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm); Wt. 6.55 oz. (185 g); right arm defense (j): H. 18 7/8 in. (47.9 cm); W. 7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm); D. 5 in. (12.7 cm); Wt. 2 lb. 11.4 oz. (1230 g); left arm defense (k): H. 18 5/16 in. (46.5 cm); W. 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm); D. 5 1/16 in. (12.9 cm); Wt. 2 lb. 9 oz. (1162 g); right gauntlet (l): H. 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm); W. 5 7/16 in. (13.8 cm); D. 5 1/8 in. (13 cm); Wt. 1 lb. 5.95 oz. (622 g); left gauntlet (m): H. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm); W. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm); D. 4 3/4 in. (12.1 cm); Wt. 1 lb. 3.3 oz. (547 g); right upper cuisse (n): H. 10 11/16 in. (27.1 cm); W. 7 3/16 in. (18.3 cm); D. 4 13/16 in. (12.2 cm); Wt. 1 lb. 5.75 oz. (616 g); right lower cuisse with poleyn (knee defense) (o): H. 8 15/16 in. (22.7 cm); W. 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm); D. 5 13/16 in. (14.8 cm); Wt. 1 lb. 1 oz. (481 g); left upper cuisse (p): H. 10 7/8 in. (27.6 cm); W. 7 in. (17.8 cm); D. 4 13/16 in. (12.2 cm); Wt. 1 lb. 6.5 oz. (638 g); left lower cuisse with poleyn (knee defense) (q): H. 9 in. (22.9 cm); W. 5 7/8 in. (14.9 cm); D. 6 5/16 in. (16 cm); Wt. 1 lb. 1.45 oz. (495 g); right greave and sabaton (r): H. 17 15/16 in. (45.6 cm); W. 5 1/8 in. (13 cm); D. 12 9/16 in. (31.9 cm); Wt. 2 lb. 12.65 oz. (1265 g); left greave and sabaton (s): H. 18 in. (45.7 cm); W. 5 1/8 in. (13 cm); D. 12 1/4 in. (31.1 cm); Wt. 2 lb. 14.15 oz. (1308 g)
Classification:Armor for Man
Credit Line:Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Gift of Mrs. Bashford Dean, 1929
Object Number:29.151.2a–s
Inscription:
Marking: On the helmet: traces of the Nuremberg mark on the ventail; on the gorget: Nuremberg and Kunz Lochner marks on the front plate; also an N within a pearled border on the interior; on the right pauldron (shoulder defense): traces of the Nuremberg and Kunz Lochner marks on the upper lame; also an N within a pearled border on the interior; on the left pauldron (shoulder defense): Kunz Lochner mark on the upper lame; also an N within a pearled border on the interior; on the arm defenses: traces of the Nuremberg and Kunz Lochner marks on the upper lames.
Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein, Vaduz Castle, Vaduz (until 1926; sold en bloc with numerous objects from the collections of the Princes of Liechtenstein, to Dean); Bashford Dean, New York (1926–d. 1928; by descent to his wife); Mary Alice Dyckman Dean, New York (1928–29; her gift to MMA).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art Treasures of the Metropolitan," November 7, 1952–September 7, 1953, no. 171.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg, 1300–1550," April 8–June 22, 1986, no. 275.
Nuremberg. Germanisches Nationalmuseum. "Nürnberg 1300–1550: Kunst der Gotik und Renaissance," July 24–September 28, 1986, no. 275.
Boeheim, Wendelin. "Nürnberger Waffenschmiede und ihre Werke in der kaiserlichen und in anderen Sammlungen." Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses (1895), pp. 388–99, ill.
Boeheim, Wendelin. Meister der Waffenschmiedekunst vom XIV. bis ins XVIII. Jahrhundert. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Kunst und des Kunsthandwerks. Berlin: W. Moeser, 1897. pp. 118–20.
Hortstein, O. v. "Reisenotizen eines Waffensammlers." Zeitschrift für historische Waffenkunde, (1906–08), pp. 245–46.
Hortstein, O. v. "Der Bund der 'Wildensteiner Ritterschaft zur blauen Erde' (Fachnotizen)." Zeitschrift Für historische Waffenkunde, Zeitschrift für Historische Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 4 pp. 286–87.
Grancsay, Stephen V. "A Historical Horse Armor." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (July 1932), pp. 169, 176–78, ill.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Stephen V. Grancsay, and Carl Otto von Kienbusch. The Bashford Dean Collection of Arms and Armor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Portland, ME: Southworth Press for the Armor and Arms Club of New York City, 1933. pp. 89–91, no. 12, pl. XXIII.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Francis Henry Taylor, and Edith Appleton Standen. Art Treasures of the Metropolitan: A Selection from the European and Asiatic Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, edited by Marshall Davidson. 1st ed. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1952. pp. 175, 236, no. 171, ill.
Grancsay, Stephen V. "The New Galleries of European Arms and Armor." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (May 1956), p. 227, ill.
Gamber, Ortwin. "Der Plattner Kunz Lochner - Harnische als Zeugnisse Habsburgishcer Politik." Jahrbuch Der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien (1984), pp. 35–60.
Angerer, Martin, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Germanisches Nationalmuseum. Nürnberg, 1300–1550: Kunst der Gotik und Renaissance. 1st ed. Munich: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. pp. 464–66, no. 275, ill.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Germanisches Nationalmuseum. Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg, 1300–1550. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 1986. pp. 464–66, no. 275, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. "Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 1991), pp. 19, 64, ill.
Pyhrr, Stuart W., Donald J. La Rocca, and Dirk H. Breiding. The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480–1620. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. pp. frontispiece, 24–25, figs. 18.
Fallows, Noel. Jousting in Medieval and Renaissance Iberia. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2010. pp. 243–44, fig. 145.
Pyhrr, Stuart W. "Of Arms and Men: Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan, 1912–2012." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 2012), pp. 5, 31–32, fig. 48.
La Rocca, Donald J. How to Read European Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017. p. 155, fig. 172.
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