This reinforcing breastplate was intended to be worn on top of the breastplate of a cuirassier (heavy cavalry) armor in order to make it bulletproof. Bulletproof reinforcing pieces were relatively heavy––this breastplate alone weighs 14 pounds 11 ounces––which is why they were made to be removable when not in use. Cuirassiers usually were armed with a sword and two or more wheellock pistols such as the example also in the Metropolitan Museum's collection (acc. no. 14.25.1426).
The symbols deeply engraved on the silvered steel surface of this breastplate and on the barrel and lockplate of the associated pistol include a pentagram, the letter F, and a coronet encircling a pair of crossed palm branches. These are the personal emblems of the Spanish nobleman Don Gómez Suárez de Figueroa Y Córdova, duke of Feria (1587–1634), a prominent military commander in the service of King Philip III. From 1618 to 1625 and again from 1631 to 1633, he held the prestigious post of governor of the duchy of Milan, then a Spanish territory. It was probably during this period that the duke of Feria commissioned this pistol (one of a pair) and the armor, now in the Royal Armory in Turin, Italy, to which this reinforcing breastplate originally belonged.
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Title:Reinforcing Breastplate
Date:ca. 1625–30
Geography:probably Milan
Culture:Italian, probably Milan
Medium:Steel, silver
Dimensions:H. 16 in. (40.6 cm); W. 16 1/2 in. (41.9 cm); D. 11 in. (27.9 cm); Wt. 14 lb. 11 oz. (6662 g)
Classification:Armor Parts-Breastplates
Credit Line:Gift of William H. Riggs, 1913
Accession Number:14.25.867
Real Armería, Madrid (until 1836); [Eusebio Zuloaga, Madrid, in 1836; sold February 25, 1836, to Le Page]; [Henri Le Page, Paris, in 1836]; [Samuel Luke Pratt, London, in 1855]; Ralph Bernal, London (until d. 1854; his estate sale, Christie & Manson, London, March 5–April 3, 1855, no. 2412, “a singular fine breast placard, of Spanish work, in russet and silver, engraved with a triangular figure and the letter F, and crowns and feathers, there is a sharp ridge down the centre; it has a dent made by a crossbow bolt or bullet on it,” sold, for £1 11s. 6p, to Pratt); Albert Denison, 1st Lord Londesborough, Tadcaster, Yorkshire, England (until d. 1860; by descent to his son, the 1st Earl of Londesborough); William Henry Forester Denison, 1st Earl of Londesborough, Tadcaster, Yorkshire, England (1860–88; Armour and Arms . . . of the Right Hon. Earl of Londesborough, Christie, Manson and Woods, London, July 4–6, 9–11, 1888, no. 438, sold, for £14, to Bachereau); [Bachereau, Paris, in 1888]; William H. Riggs, Paris (until 1913; his gift to MMA).
London. Alexandra Palace. "Londesborough Collection of Arms and Armour," 1875, no. 896 Catalogue by William Chaffers.
Christie, Manson & Woods. Illustrated Catalogue of the Distinguished Collection of Works of Art and Vertu from the Byzantine Period to that of Louis Seize, Collected by the late Ralph Bernal, Esq.. London: Christie's, London, March 5–April 30, 1855. p. 208, no. 2412.
Chaffers, William. Catalogue of the Londesborough Collection of Arms and Armour: with a Descriptive Account of the Antiquities and Works of Art, the Property of Lord Londesborough. London: Harrison and Sons, 1875. p. 35, no. 896.
Angelucci, Angel. Catalogo della Armeria Reale: Illustrato con Incisioni in Legno. Turin: Tipografico G. Candeletti, 1890. pp. 97–101, no. B.44 (armor to which this breastplate belongs, discussed and illustrated).
di Quaregna, Luigi Avogadro. Armeria Antica e Moderna de S.M. il Re d'Italia in Torino. Vol. l. Turin, 1898. pl. 40 (armor to which this breastplate belongs, illustrated).
Buttin, Charles. "L'armure du Marquis de Leganès, Turin, Armeria Reale." Armes Anciennes (1957), pp. 3–16, pl. III.
Crawford-Volk, Mary. "New Light on a Seventeenth-Century Collector: The Marquis of Leganés." The Art Bulletin (June 1980), pp. 256–68.
Tarassuk, Leonid. "The Cabinet D'Armes of Louis XIII: Some Firearms and Related Problems." Metropolitan Museum Journal 21 pp. 82–84, fig. 26.
Christie, Manson & Woods. Collection of Armour and Arms, Carvings in Ivory. London: Christie, Manson & Woods, July 4–6 and July 9–11, 1888. no. 438.
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