Kunz Lochner was one of the few Nuremberg armorers of the mid-sixteenth century to achieve an international reputation. His patrons included the Holy Roman Emperor, the dukes of Saxony, and the king of Poland. This horse armor bears only the Nuremberg mark but can be attributed to Lochner on stylistic grounds. The elaborately embossed and etched decoration of the peytral (chest defense) includes an abbreviated inscription that may be interpreted: 1548 K[rist] I[ch] T[rau] G[anz] V[nd] G[ar] H[ans] E[rnst] H[erzog] Z[u] Sachsen (1548 In Christ I trust wholly, Hans [Johann] Ernst, Duke of Saxony). Duke Johann Ernst (1521–1553) may have commissioned the horse armor for his attendance at the Diet of Augsburg, a political assembly of the German nobility called in 1548 by Charles V to deal with the crisis of the Reformation.
The associated man's armor also in the Metropolitan Museum's collection (acc. no. 29.151.2) bears the mark of Nuremberg; Lochner's personal mark, a rampant lion; and the date 1548. The armor was originally part of a small garniture that included exchange elements for field and tournament use. Restorations include the cuirass and the gauntlets.
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Equestrian figures, Bloomberg Court, Arms and Armor View 3; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The John Pierpont Morgan Wing: The Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Arms and Armor Court (Gallery 371)
Artwork Details
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Title:Horse Armor Made for Johann Ernst, Duke of Saxony-Coburg (1521–1553)
Dimensions:Horse armor (a–h): Wt. 60 lb. 9 oz. (27.5 kg); Wt. including saddle approx. 92 lb.(41.73 kg); shaffron (a): Wt. 5 lb. 13 oz. (2637 g); crinet (b): Wt. 11 lb. 1 oz. (5018 g); central peytral plate (c): Wt. 3 lb. 12 oz. (1701 g); right peytral plate (d): Wt. 3 lb. 15 oz. (1786 g); left peytral plate (e): Wt. 3 lb. 7 oz. (1559 g); crupper (f): Wt. 27 lb. 8 oz. (12.47 kg); right flanchard (g): Wt. 2 lb. 8 oz. (1134 g); left flanchard (h): Wt. 2 lb. 9 oz. (1162 g); saddle (i–n): Wt. 28 lb. 14 oz. (13.1 kg); bit: H. 6 in (15.2 cm); W. 11 in (27.9 cm)
Classification:Armor for Horse
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1932
Accession Number:32.69a–q
Inscription: Inscribed on the central plate of the peytral (horse's chest defense): 1548 K[rist] I[ch] T[rau] G[anz] V[nd] G[ar] H[ans] E[rnst] H[erzog] Z[u] Sachsen (1548 In Christ I trust wholly, Hans [Johann] Ernst, Duke of Saxony); in cartouche on the cantle plate, appears to be purposely effaced: possibly I M I, which may be the initials of the etcher; on the pommel of the saddle: K L.
Marking: On the shaffron (horse's head defense): an N within a pearled border on the interior; on the crinet (horse's neck defense): the Nuremberg mark on the lower lame; on the peytral (horse's chest defense): the Nuremberg mark on the exterior; also an N within a pearled circle on the interior; on the left flanchard (horse's flank defense): an N within a pearled border on the interior; on the crupper (horse's rump defense): the Nuremberg mark on the upper narrow lame.
Karl August, duke of Saxony-Weimar, Schloss Wartburg, Germany (until 1786; gifted through Johann Heinrich Merck to Count Franz, 1786); Count Franz I zu Erbach-Erbach, Schloss Erbach im Odenwald, Germany (1786–d. 1823; by descent through his family to Count Konrad zu Erbach-Erbach); Count Konrad zu Erbach-Erbach, Schloss Erbach (1920–1932; sold to Galerie Fischer); [Galerie Fischer, Lucerne, in 1932; sold to MMA, 1932].
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art Treasures of the Metropolitan," November 7, 1952–September 7, 1953, no. 171.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg, 1300–1550," April 8–June 22, 1986, no. 275.
Nuremberg. Germanisches Nationalmuseum. "Nürnberg 1300–1550: Kunst der Gotik und Renaissance," July 24–September 28, 1986, no. 275.
Schloss Erbach. Kurze Beschreibung des Rittersaales in dem Schlosse zu Erbach im Odenwalde und der in demselben aufgestellten Rüstungen und Waffen. Amorbach: H. W. Wolkhart, 1808. pp. 10–11, I. 4.
Schloss Erbach. Kurze Beschreibung des Rittersaales in dem Schlosse zu Erbach im Odenwalde und der in demselben aufgestellten Rüstungen und Waffen. Amorbach: H. W. Wolkhart, 1812. p. 10, I. 4.
Kresš, G. L. von. Rittersaal im Schlosse zu Erbach im Odenwalde: gezeichnet und in aqua tinta geätzt von G.L. v. Kresš. Offenbach a.M, 1832. p. 6, I. 4.
Gurlitt, Cornelius. "Deutsche Turniere, Rüstungen und Plattner des XVI. Jahrhunderts: Archivalische Forschungen." PhD diss., Gilbers'sche Königl. Hof-Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1889. pp. 79–80, no. 41.
Schaefer, Georg. Kunstdenkmäler im Grossherzogthum Hessen. Inventarisirung und beschreibende Darstellung der Werke der Architektur, Plastik, Malerei und des Kunstgewerbes bis zum Schluss des XVIII Jahrhunderts. A. Provinz Starkenburg, Kries Erbach. Darmstadt: A. Bergstraesser, 1891. p. 67, fig. 38.
Lehfeldt, Paul, and Georg Voss. "Herzogthum Sachsen–Coburg und Gotha. Landrathsamt Coburg. Amtsgerichtsbezirke Neustadt, Rodach, Sonnefeld, Königsberg, Coburg. Die Stadt Coburg. Die Veste Coburg." In Bau– und Kunst–Denkmäler Thüringens. , Vol. [4], Vol. 4, no. 32/33. Jena: Fischer, 1907. (general information about the Coburg armor collection).
Müller-Hickler, Hans. Die Waffensammlungen in Erbach i. O. K. F. Bender, 1923. pls. 6, 8.
Müller-Hickler, Hans. Bezeichnung der Rüstungen und Waffen in dem Rittersaal Sr. Erlaucht des Grafen Konrad zu Erbach, Erbach i. O. Darmstadt, 1926. pls. 6, 8.
Haenel, E. "Johann Heinrich Merck, Die Lukrezia und Die Deutsche Renaissance." In Karl Koetschau: Von Seinen Freunden Und Verehrern Zum 60. Geburtstag Am 27. März 1928. Düsseldorf: Verlag des Kunstvereins für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, 1928. pp. 62–63.
Grancsay, Stephen V. "A Historical Horse Armor." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (July 1932), pp. 176–78, figs. 1–2, ill. cover page.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Historical Armor: A Picture Book. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. pp. 2–3, pl. 16.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Historical Armor: A Picture Book. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1946. pp. 2–3, pl. 16.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Historical Armor: A Picture Book. 3rd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1951. pp. 2–3, pl. 16.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Francis Henry Taylor, and Edith Appleton Standen. Art Treasures of the Metropolitan: A Selection from the European and Asiatic Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, edited by Marshall Davidson. 1st ed. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1952. pp. 175, 236, no. 171, ill.
Grancsay, Stephen V. "The New Galleries of European Arms and Armor." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (May 1956), p. 227, ill.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Historical Armor: A Picture Book. 4th ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1957. pp. 2–3, pl. 16.
Schedelmann, Hans. "Ein Rückblick auf den Waffenmarkt des letzten halben Jahrhunderts." Waffen– und Kostümkunde: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für historische Waffen– und Kostümkunde, Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 32, ser. 3 v. 15, no.1 p. 26, no. 14, ill.
Gamber, Ortwin. "Der Plattner Kunz Lochner - Harnische als Zeugnisse Habsburgishcer Politik." Jahrbuch Der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien (1984), pp. 35–60.
Angerer, Martin, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Germanisches Nationalmuseum. Nürnberg, 1300–1550: Kunst der Gotik und Renaissance. 1st ed. Munich: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. pp. 464–66, no. 275, ill.
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. 104–107; fig. 39.1–39.3.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Germanisches Nationalmuseum. Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg, 1300–1550. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 1986. pp. 464–66, no. 275, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. "Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 1991), pp. 19, 64, ill.
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. pp. frontispiece, 24–25, 28, 42, figs. 18–20, n. 9.
Fallows, Noel. Jousting in Medieval and Renaissance Iberia. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2010. pp. 243–44, fig. 145.
Pyhrr, Stuart W. "Of Arms and Men: Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan, 1912–2012." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 2012), pp. 5, 31–32, fig. 48.
La Rocca, Donald J. How to Read European Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017. p. 155, fig. 172.
Terjanian, Pierre. "Liberal Art or Profession? Etching Armor in Renaissance Nuremberg." In At the Sign of the Dragon: Papers to Celebrate the 700th Anniversary of the Armourers and Brasiers' Company of London. Leeds: Basiliscoe Press, 2024. p. 43, fig. 2.
ca. 1555; probably repainted and shaffron eye guards restored later
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