DescriptionThis helmet is the earliest surviving example of Renaissance armor all'antica (in the antique style). The helmet represents the head of the Nemean Lion, whose pelt was worn as a headdress and cloak by the mythological hero Hercules. Hercules was frequently portrayed in Renaissance art as a symbol of indomitable strength, courage, and perseverance. The gilt-copper lion's head is mounted over a plain steel sallet made specifically for this purpose. The helmet retains its original padded canvas lining.

ProvenanceEx coll.: Fountaine; Gwennap (1818); Germanic Mus., Nuremberg Provenance: Gothic Hall Catalogue, London, 1819 (4th edition). "No. 131 - A fine open helmet, beautifully embossed and gilt; representing the skin of a lion's scalp, drawn over the casque. - This fine specimen is of the time of Henry VIII."described also in catalogues of the Oplotheca, 1816, 1817 No. 107; Gothic Hall, 1820, No. 131; Robins Sale (of Gothic Hall collection), 1833, No. 124. (Cripps-Day, Armour Sales, (1) p. 1). Cripps-Day also wrote Dr. Dean in 1923/1924 that said helmet appears in the Oplotheca Catalogue of 1816, and Gothic Hall, 1818, No. 125. Catalogue of Royal Armoury, Hay-Market (n.d. - but mentions battle of Waterloo): "No. 64 - Same description, word for word, as in Gothic Hall Catalogue, 1819 ed., No. 131. (This note sent by Harry P. David, 311 W. 111th St., N.Y.C. Feb. 25, 1924, who owns both Royal Armoury and Gothic Hall 1819 catalogues, which latter since presented by him to M.M.A.): (Hay-Market Coll. apparently expanded into the Gothic Hall Coll.??) Beard, Some Tower armour pedigrees (Connoisseur, Mar., 1931, p. 169) also gives this Gothic Hall prov. whereas Camp believes the Lion-head helmet of the Gothic Hall Coll. now to be No. 107 in Wallace Coll. (Catalogue, Part I, 1924.).