This is one of a group of finely etched armors made for the court of Duke Julius of Brunswick-Wölfenbüttel (1528–1589). The armors are decorated similarly with satyrs, allegorical figures, and grotesques, many of which are derived from prints by Cornelis Bos and Virgil Solis. The group is distinguished further, as is the armor displayed here, by the device on the breast: a quatrefoil above a crowned heart, which is flanked by two pairs of clasped hands and the initials HI (Herzog Iulius, meaning “Duke Julius” or “Heinrich Julius”). The scene depicted in the quatrefoil is the Old Testament story of Daniel in the lions’ den. Around the border runs an inscription that reads in translation, “Oh God, protect no more than my life, soul, property, and honor.” It is thought that this group of armors was commissioned about 1563, to commemorate the reconciliation of Julius and his father, Duke Heinrich (died 1568), and the reinstatement of Julius to the ducal succession.
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Inscription: Inscribed around the etched medallion on the left side of the breastplate: ACH GOTT BEWA[HR] M[IR NI]CHT MEHR LEIB SELE GVT V[ND] EHR (Oh God, protect no more than my life, soul, property, and honor); also on the breastplate: a quatrefoil above a crowned heart, flanked by two pairs of clased hands and the initials HI (Herzog Iulius).
Prince Peter Soltykoff, Paris (until 1860; sold, for Fr. 7,000, to Riggs)
; William H. Riggs, Paris (1860–1913; his gift to MMA).
Allentown. Allentown Art Museum. "Arms and Armor: A Loan Exhibition from the Collection of Stephen V. Grancsay: with Important Contributions by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the John Woodman Higgins Armory, Worcester, Massachusetts," March 15–June 14, 1964, no. 3.
Seattle, Wash. Seattle Art Museum. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," March 11, 1982–June 6, 1982, no. 18.
Denver, Colo. Denver Art Museum. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," July 18–October 10, 1982, no. 18.
San Antonio, Tex. Witte Museum of the San Antonio Museum Association. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 13, 1982–February 5, 1983, no. 18.
Minneapolis, Minn. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 24–July 31, 1983, no. 18.
San Francisco. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 5, 1983–January 28, 1984, no. 18.
Detroit, Mich. Detroit Institute of Arts. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 4–June 17, 1984, no. 18.
Bohlmann, Robert. "Die Braunschweigischen Waffen auf Schloss Blankenburg am Harz." Zeitschrift für historische Waffenkunde, Zeitschrift für Historische Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 6 pp. 335–58, figs.5, 8.
Bohlmann, Robert. "Braunschweig-Brandenburgische Hochzeits-Harnische und Hochzeitskette von 1560." Der Deutsche Herold no. 6
Bohlmann, Robert. "Die Zeichen oder Monogramme des Herzogs Julius von Braunschweig." Quellen und Forschungen zum Evangelischen Sozialen Handeln (1914).
Fuhse, F. Schmiede und verwandte Gewerke in der Stadt Braunschweig: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Handwerks und zur Familienkunde. Werkstücke aus Museum, Archiv und Bibliothek der Stadt Braunschweig, Vol. 5. Brunswick: E. Appelhans & Comp., 1930. pp. 43–50 (Brunswick armorers discussed).
Bohlmann, Robert. "Zeughaus und Harnischkammer der Herzöge von Braunschweig in Wolfenbüttel und seit 1730 in Braunschweig" (Sitzungsbericht, 114. Sitzung am 15. Dezember 1934)." Zeitschrift für Historische Waffen– und Kostümkunde, Zeitschrift für Historische Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 14, n.s.v. 5 pp. 40–41.
Mann, James G. Exhibition of Arms, Armour and Militaria lent by H.R.H the Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg at the Armouries of the Tower of London. London, 1952. pp. 5–7, nos. 2–16 (similar armors).
Hayward, John F. "The Armoury of the Dukes of Brunswick." The Connoisseur Year Book (1953), pp. 45–48.
Grancsay, Stephen V., and John Woodman Higgins Armory. Catalogue of Armor: The John Woodman Higgins Armory. Worcester, Mass.: John Woodman Higgins Armory, 1961. p. 77 (a similar armor ill.).
Kienbusch, Carl Otto von. The Kretzschmar von Kienbusch Collection of Armor and Arms. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Library, 1963. nos. 13, 24, 25, 132, 133, 134 (similar armors).
Allentown Art Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and John Woodman Higgins Armory. Arms and Armor: A Loan Exhibition from the Collection of Stephen V. Grancsay: with Important Contributions by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the John Woodman Higgins Armory, Worcester, Massachusetts: March 15–June 14, 1964. Allentown, Pa.: Allentown Art Museum, March 15, 1964–June 14, 1964. pp. 16, 21, no. 3, ill.
Schéle, Sune. Cornelis Bos: A Study of the Origins of the Netherland Grotesque. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1965. nos. 143, 147.
O'Dell-Franke, Ilse. Kupferstiche und Radierungen aus der Werkstatt des Virgil Solis. Wiesbaden, Germany: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1977. nos. g.3, g.9.
Thomas, Bruno. Gesammelte Schriften zur historischen Waffenkunde: [überarb. Nachdr. von 88 in Fachzeitschriften u. Einzelpublikationen ersch. Abhandlungen des Autors]. Vol. I. Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1977. pp. 646–48 (North German armors of this type discussed).
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Helmut Nickel, Stuart W. Pyhrr, Leonid Tarassuk, and American Federation of Arts. The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art: An Exhibition. New York: The Federation, 1982. pp. 52–54, no. 18.
von Rohr, Alheidis. "Die Braunschweigischen Prunkharnische des Herzog Julius." Waffen– und Kostümkunde: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für historische Waffen– und Kostümkunde, Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 47, ser. 3 v. 30, no.2 pp. 114, 117, 125, fig. 23.
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