Formerly part of a parade armor, this breastplate is the only signed work of Giovan Paolo Negroli, a cousin of the more famous Filippo. Now bright, the breastplate's surface originally was russet-colored, and the raised and etched areas were gilded. Its color probably was very similar to that of the close helmet exhibited nearby, which is also attributed to Giovan Paolo.
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Interior of breastplate, overall
Artwork Details
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Title:Breastplate
Armorer:Giovan Paolo Negroli (Italian, Milan ca. 1513–1569)
Date:ca. 1540–45
Geography:Milan
Culture:Italian, Milan
Medium:Steel, gold
Dimensions:H. 23 1/4 in. (59.1 cm); W. 16 3/8 in. (41.6 cm)
Classification:Armor Parts-Breastplates
Credit Line:Gift of William H. Riggs, 1913
Accession Number:14.25.1855
Inscription: Inscribed on a ribbon-scroll on the lower part of the breastplate: $0 PAVLVS DE NEGROLIS ME FECIT.
Hollingworth Magniac, Colworth, Bedford, England (by 1857–d. 1867; his estate sale, The Renowned Collection of Works of Art, chiefly formed by the late Hollingworth Magniac, Esq., Christie, Manson & Woods, London, July 2–13, 1892, no. 1044, sold, for 400 gns., to Duveen for Riggs); William H. Riggs, Paris (until 1913; his gift to MMA).
London. South Kensington Museum. "Special Exhibition of Works of Art of the Medieval, Renaissance and More Recent Periods," June, 1862, no. 4689.
Paris. Palais des Armées de Terre et de Mer. "Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1900," April 14–November 12, 1900.
Detroit. The Detroit Institute of Arts. "Decorative Arts of the Italian Renaissance, 1400–1600," November 18, 1958–January 4, 1959.
Detroit. Detroit Institute of Arts. "Decorative Arts of the Italian Renaissance 1400–1600," November 18, 1958–January 4, 1959, no. 208.
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. 43.
Waring, J. B., and J. R. Planché. A Handbook to the Museum of Ornamental Art in the Art Treasures Exhibition. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1857. p. 76.
Wyatt, Matthew Digby Sir. "Observations in Metallic Art." Art Treasures of the United Kingdom from the Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester p. 44, pl. 16, no. 1.
Robinson, J. C., ed. Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Works of Art of the Mediæval, Renaissance, and More Recent Periods, on Loan at the South Kensington Museum, June 1862. London: South Kensington Museum, 1862. no. 4689.
Robinson, J. C. Notice of the Principal Works of Art in the Collection of Hollingworth Magniac. London: Cundall, Downes & Co., 1862. pp. 38–39, no. 65.
Lièvre, Edouard. Works of Art in the Collections of England. London: Holloway and Son, 1870. pl. XVI.
Christie's, London. The Renowned Collection of Works of Art, Chiefly Formed by the Late Hollingwoth Magniac (Also Known as the Colworth Collection). London: Christie's, London, July 2–4, 1892. no. 1044.
The Magazine of Art. The Magazine of Art 15 pp. 395–96.
Orville, E. Notice sur les Armes et Armures Anciennes Figurant à l'Exposition Rétrospective Militaire. Paris: Berger-Levrault & Cie, 1900. p. 25.
Dean, Bashford. Notes on Arms and Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1916. p. 97, ill.
Laking, Guy Francis, Sir, Charles Alexander Cosson, and Francis Henry Cripps-Day. A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries. Vol. III. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1920. pp. 289–93, fig. 1056.
Ivins, William M., Jr. "A Treasury of Design." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 22, no. 8 p. 218.
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. p. 131, fig. 82.
Mann, James G. "A Parade Armour of Henry II, King of France." Country Life (June 11, 1938), pp. 603–605, 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. 12, no. 208, ill.
Thomas, Bruno, and Ortwin Gamber. "L'Arte Milanese dell'Armatura." Storia di Milano XI p. 793.
Aroldi, Aldo M. Armi e Armature Italiane Fino al XVIII Secolo. Milan: Bramante Editrice, 1961. fig. 125.
Boccia, Lionello G., and Eduardo T. Coelho. L'Arte dell'Armatura in Italia. Milan: Bramante Editrice, 1967. pp. 323–24, 333–34, pl. 274.
Boccia, Lionello G., Fabio Rossi, and Marco Morin. Armi e Armature Lombarde. Milano: Electa, 1980. pl. 141.
Boccia, Lionello G. "Le Armature dei Negroli." Poiein / Quaderni di Cultura Artistica del Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione (1993), pp. 5–26, 82–85, no. 6, 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. 226–29, no. 43, ill.
Williams, Alan R. "The Steel of the Negroli." Metropolitan Museum Journal (1999), pp. 113–14, figs. 33–36.
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. 254.
Pyhrr, Stuart W. "Of Arms and Men: Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan, 1912–2012." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 2012), pp. 16–18, 47, fig. 21.
Curator Donald J. La Rocca discusses the relationship between the Met's Bashford Dean and the collector William H. Riggs, who donated his impressive arms and armor collection to the Museum in 1913.
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![Of Arms and Men: Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan, 1912–2012 [adapted from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 70, no. 1 (Summer, 2012)]](/-/media/images/art/metpublication/cover/2012/of_arms_and_men_arms_and_armor_at_the_metropolitan_1912_2012.jpg)
