This is the earliest dated armor from the royal workshops at Greenwich, which were established in 1515 by Henry VIII (reigned 1509–47) to produce armors for himself and his court. It is also the earliest surviving Greenwich garniture, an armor made with a series of exchange and reinforcing pieces by which it could be adapted for use in battle and in different forms of the tournament. Furthermore, the overall etching and gilding place it among the most richly decorated of all Greenwich armors. The design of the decoration is attributed to the Swiss artist Hans Holbein the Younger (1497–1543), who worked at the English court from 1526 to 1528.
The surviving exchange elements of this armor are a reinforcing breastplate with lance rest for use in the field or in the mounted tournament with lances; a left-hand gauntlet reinforce, or manifer, also used in the tournament with lances; and a right-hand locking gauntlet for the mounted tournament with swords.
A highly unusual and innovative feature is the ventral plate, which was worn strapped to the chest beneath the breastplate in order to lessen the weight supported from the shoulders. A ventral plate is found on only one other armor, made in Greenwich in 1540 for Henry VIII.
This armor is believed to have been made for Henry VIII and presented by him to the French ambassador François de La Tour d’Auvergne, viscount of Turenne, who led a diplomatic mission to London in 1527. After the viscount’s death in 1532, the armor presumably passed to his friend Galiot de Genouilhac, grand master of artillery and grand écuyer (master of the horse) of France, from whose descendants it came to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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Title:Armor Garniture, Probably of King Henry VIII of England (reigned 1509–47)
Designer:Design of the decoration attributed to Hans Holbein the Younger (German, Augsburg 1497/98–1543 London)
Armorer:Made in the Royal Workshops at Greenwich (British, Greenwich, 1511–1640s)
Date:dated 1527
Geography:Greenwich
Culture:British, Greenwich
Medium:Steel, gold, leather, copper alloys
Dimensions:Overall H. 73 in. (185.4 cm); Wt. 62 lb. 12 oz. (28.45 kg); reinforcing breastplate (19.131.1h) and lance rest (19.131.1t): combined Wt. 7 lb. 5.3 oz. (3324 g); reinforcing abdominal plate (19.131.1u): Wt. 2 lb. 10.6 oz. (1206 g)
Classification:Armor for Horse and Man
Credit Line:Purchase, William H. Riggs Gift and Rogers Fund, 1919
Object Number:19.131.1a–r, t–w, .2a–f, l
Inscription: Inscribed on the central plate of backplate, the lower lame of fauld reinforce, and the lower tace lame, the date: 1527.
Louis-Emmanuel de Crussol, duc d'Uzès, Château de Bonnelles, Seine-et-Oise, France (until d. 1878; bequeathed to Louis-Emmanuel de Crussol); Louis-Emmanuel de Crussol, duc d'Uzès, Château de Bonnelles, Seine-et-Oise, France (1878–1917; sold to MMA).
Paris. Palais de la Guerre, Les Invalides. "Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1889: Les Anciennes Armées Françaises: Exposition Rétrospective Militaire du Ministère de la Guerre en 1889," May 6–October 31, 1889 (not cited in catalogue).
Paris. Palais des Armées de Terre et de Mer. "Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1900," April 14–November 12, 1900.
London. H. M. Tower of London. "Exhibition of Armour Made in the Royal Workshops at Greenwich," May 22–September 29, 1951, no. 3.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries," November 14, 1970–June 1, 1971, no. 247 .
Houston, TX. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits from Holbein to Warhol," October 7, 2018–February 3, 2019.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England," October 10, 2022–January 8, 2023.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England," February 26–May 14, 2023.
Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England," June 24–September 24, 2023.
Saliat, Pierre. Vita Francisci Galioti Acieri, Turmarü Dvctoris Et Fabrum Machinarumqve Bellicarum in Gallia Prænfecti, Additus Est Isocratis Euagoras Latinus Factus. Paris: Apud Lod. Begatium, 1549.
Justel, Christofle. Histoire Généalogique de la Maison de Turene: Justifiée par Chartres, Titres et Histories Anciennes, et Autres Preuves Authentiques Divisée en Deux Livres. Paris: La veuve M. du Puy, 1645.
Justel, Christofle. Histoire Généalogique de la Maison d'Auvergne: Justifiée par Chartres, Titres, et Histories Anciennes, et Autres Preuves Authentiques ... Divisée en Sept Livres. Paris: La veuve M. du Puy, 1645.
Vidaillet, J.B. Biographie des Hommes Célèbres du Department du Lot, ou Galerie Historique des Personnages Mémorables Auxquels ce Département a Donné le Jour Depuis la Conquête des Gaules Jusques a l'Année 1827. Gourdon, France: De l'Impr. d'Aug.e Lescure, 1827. pp. 189–209 (biography of Galiot de Genouilhac).
Lacoste, Guillaume, and Louis Combarieu. Histoire Générale de la Province de Quercy. Vol. 4. Cahors, France: J. Girma, 1886. p. 451, n. I.
Thoumas, Charles-Antoine. Exposition Rétrospective Militaire du Ministère de la Guerre en 1889. Paris: H. Launette et Cie., G. Boudet successeur, 1890.
Thoumas, Charles Antoine. Les Anciennes Armées Françaises: Exposition Rétrospective Militaire Du Ministère De La Guerre En 1889. Vol. I. Paris: Librairie artistique H. Launette et cie, éditeurs--G. Boudet, successeur, 1890.
Orville, E. Notice sur les Armes et Armures Anciennes Figurant à l'Exposition Rétrospective Militaire. Paris: Berger-Levrault & Cie, 1900. pp. 9, 18.
Dean, Bashford. "Gilded and Engraved Armor for Man and Horse." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (October 1919), pp. 209–15, ill.
Dean, Bashford. "A Model for Horse Armor." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (August 1923), pp. 188–90, figs. 1–2.
de Vaux de Foletier, F. Galiot de Genouillac, Maître de l'Artillerie de France (1465–1546). Paris: Picard, 1925.
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. pp. 125–26, fig. 75, 77 (19.131.1a–r, t–w).
Grancsay, Stephen V. "The Armor of Galiot de Genouilhac." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Papers 4 pp. 1–37, pls. I–IV, VI–XXVII.
Beard, Charles R., and Francis Henry Cripps-Day. "Claim and Counter-Claim." In Fragmenta Armamentaria: The Past Is Never Dead: [armour in the Chartres Museum]. Fragmenta Armamentaria, Vol. 5. Frome: Printed privately, by Butler & Tanner Ltd., 1941. pp. 153–86.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Historical Armor: A Picture Book. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. p. 3, pl. 1.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Historical Armor: A Picture Book. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1946. p. 3, pl. 1.
Jebb, Richard C. "The Classical Renaissance." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 5, no. 3 p. 83, ill. (19.131.1a–r, t–w).
Saarinen, Aline B. 5000 Years of Art in Western Civilization. New York: Howell, Soskin, 1946. pp. 56, 122.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Historical Armor: A Picture Book. 3rd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1951. p. 3, pl. 1.
Tower of London Armouries. Exhibition of Armour Made in the Royal Workshops at Greenwich, 22nd May–29th September, 1951. London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1951. no. 3, pls. III, XXXIIIb.
Cripps-Day, Francis Henry. An Introduction to the Study of Greenwich Armour. Fragmenta Armamentaria, Vol. I, no. 5. London: Butler & Tanner, 1952. pp. 100–103.
Grancsay, Stephen V. "The New Galleries of European Arms and Armor." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (May 1956), pp. 211, 220.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Historical Armor: A Picture Book. 4th ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1957. p. 3, pl. 1.
Gamber, Ortwin. "Die Königlich Englische Hofplattnerei (Martin van Royne und Erasmus Kirkener)." Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien 59 p. 15, fig. 9.
Nickel, Helmut. Warriors and Worthies: Arms and Armor Through the Ages. New York: Atheneum, 1969. p. 75, ill.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Kenneth Clark. Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1970. pp. 238–39, no. 247, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. "A Harnes All Gilte": A Study of the Armor of Galiot de Genouilhac and the Iconography of Its Decoration." Metropolitan Museum Journal 5 pp. 75–124, figs. 1–69.
Nickel, Helmut. Ullstein-Waffenbuch: eine kulturhistorische Waffenkunde mit Markenverzeichnis. Berlin: Ullstein, 1974. pp. 70–155 (similar armor discussed).
Oakeshott, R. Ewart. European Weapons and Armour: From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution. North Hollywood, Calif.: Beinfeld Publishing, 1980. pp. 211–12, pl. 17C.
Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Cahors. Galiot De Genouillac, "Gentilhomme D'acier": [exposition] Cathédrale De Cahors, Grenier Du Chapitre, Juillet–Septembre 1983. Cahors: Grenier du Chapitre, 1983. p. 21.
Grancsay, Stephen V., and Stuart W. Pyhrr. Arms & Armor: Essays by Stephen V. Grancsay from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 1920–1964. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. pp. 134–36, fig. 52.1.
Schwennicke, Detlev. "Pairs de France und ihre Familien." In Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten. Neue Folge. Vol. 10. Marburg: J. A. Stargardt, Berlin, 1986. p. 7–8, pl. 7–12 (genealogy of the Crussol d'Uzès family discussed).
Nickel, Helmut. "Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 1991), pp. 21, 64, ill.
Eaves, Ian. "The Tournament Armours of King Henry VIII of England." Livrustkammaren (Journal of the Royal Armoury, Sweden) pp. 18–24, figs. 15–19.
La Rocca, Donald J. "An English Armor for the King of Portugal." Metropolitan Museum Journal (1995), pp. 85–86, fig. 6 (19.131.1g, d), p. 96, n. 37.
Williams, Alan, and Anthony de Reuck. The Royal Armoury at Greenwich 1515–1649: A History of Its Technology. Royal Armouries Monograph, Vol. 4. Leeds: Trustees of the Royal Armouries, 1995. pp. 70–71.
La Rocca, Donald J. "The Bashford Dean Memorial Tablet by Daniel Chester French." Metropolitan Museum Journal (1996), p. 153, fig. 2.
Reuck, Anthony de. "Greenwich Revisited: or Gunpowder and the Obsolescence of Armour." The Journal of the Arms and Armour Society 15, no. 7 pp. 428, 430, tables 1, 3.
Troso, Mario. Italia! Italia! 1526–1530: La Prima Guerra D'indipendenza Italiana: Con Gli Assedi Di Milano, Napoli, Firenze, Il Sacco Di Roma E Le Battaglie Di Capo D'orso E Gavinana. Parma: E. Albertelli, 2001. pp. 192–93, fig. T24.
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. pp. 750–51.
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. p. 61–62 (saddle, 19.131.2a).
Terjanian, Pierre, John Cooper, Graeme Rimer, Thom Richardson, Royal Armouries, Karen Watts, Nicholas Hall, Richard Holmes, David Loades, Lucy Wooding, Eric Gruber von Arni, Maria Hayward, Steven Gunn, Geoffrey Parnell, Eric Ives, Peter Smithurst, and Peter Brears. Henry VIII: Arms and the Man, 1509–2009, edited by John Cooper, Graeme Rimer, and Thom Richardson. Leeds: Royal Armouries, 2009. pp. 151, 155–59, 214, 336.
Terjanian, Pierre. "The King and the Armourers of Flanders." In Henry VIII: Arms and the Man, 1509–2009, edited by Graeme Rimer, Thom Richardson, and J. P. D. Cooper. Leeds: Royal Armouries, 2009. pp. 151, 214.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Thomas P. Campbell. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. p. 162, ill.
Pyhrr, Stuart W. "Of Arms and Men: Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan, 1912–2012." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 2012), pp. 18–19, fig. 25.
Norman, A. V. B., Ian Eaves, and Howard L. Blackmore. Arms & Armour In The Collection Of Her Majesty The Queen: European Armour. 1st ed. ed. London: Royal Collection Trust, 2016. pp. 88, 105.
La Rocca, Donald J. How to Read European Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017. pp. 34–5, fig. 39.
Richardson, Thom. "Pieces of Advantage: Tournament Armour in Tudor England." In Tournaments: A Thousand Years of Chivalry, edited by Stefan Krause. London: Thomas Del Mar Ltd., 2022. pp. 120–23, 128, fig. 4, n. 26.
Metcalf, Simon D. "A Drawing of the Right Gauntlet from the Lost Arabesque Armour of Henry VIII." In At the Sign of the Dragon: Papers to Celebrate the 700th Anniversary of the Armourers and Brasiers' Company of London. Leeds, UK: Basiliscoe Press, 2024. pp. 12, 19, 36, n. 36.
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