Armor of Infante Luis, Prince of Asturias (1707–1724)

Armorer:: Signature probably refers to Jean Drouart (French, Paris, died before October 1715)

Date:: dated 1712

Geography:: Paris

Culture:: French, Paris

Medium:: Steel, gold, brass, silk, cotton, metallic yarn, paper

Dimensions:: H. 28 in. (71.1 cm)

Classification:: Armor for Child

Credit Line:: Purchase, Armand Hammer, Occidental Petroleum Corporation Gift, 1989

Accession Number:: 1989.3

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 376

Possibly the last royal armor made in Europe, this is believed to have been presented to the five-year-old Infante Luis (1707–1724), prince of Asturias, by his great-grandfather Louis XIV of France (1638–1715, reigned from 1643). Luis was the first Spanish-born Bourbon heir to the throne of Spain and ruled briefly as Luis I in 1724. The armor is signed and dated on the backplate Drouar Ordinaire du Roi aux Heaume à Paris 1712 (Drouar, armorer-in-ordinary to the king, at the sign of the helm, in Paris, 1712). The signature probably refers to Jean Drouart (died before October 1715), a royal armorer. Drouart was one of the last practicing armorers active in France by 1712. Remarkable for the state of its preservation, the armor retains its lustrous blue and gold surfaces and nearly all the original red silk lining. The gilt rivet heads are of heraldic design—the lion of León, the castle of Castile, and the fleur-de-lis of France—representing the dynastic claims to which Luis was heir.

#4410. Armor of Infante Luis, Prince of Asturias

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Signature: Signed: Drouar Ordinaire du Roi aux Heaume à Paris 1712 (Drouar, armorer-in-ordinary to the king, at the sign of the helm, in Paris, 1712)

[Eric Vaule, Bridgewater, Conn., until 1989; sold to MMA].

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions," October 24, 2008–February 1, 2009.

European Exhibition of Art, Science, and Culture. XVII Exposição Europeia De Arte, Ciência E Cultura: Os Descobrimentos Portugueses e a Europa Do Renascimento (XVII European Exhibition of Art, Science, and Culture: the Portuguese Discoveries and Renaissance Europe). Lisbon: Montepio Geral, 1984. pp. 75–77, no. 69, ill.

Daehnhardt, Rainer. "The Ghost King's Armour: An Extraordinary Child's Armour Discovered." Man at Arms 10 (September/October 1988). pp. 10–15, ill.

Nickel, Helmut. "Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 49, no. 1 (Summer, 1991). pp. 30–32, 64, ill.

Lin, Lina. "On the Portrait of a Lady in Armor in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei." National Palace Museum Bulletin (December 2006). p. 102, figs. 8-1–8-3.

Pyhrr, Stuart W. "Of Arms and Men: Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan, 1912–2012." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 70, no. 1 (Summer 2012). pp. 44–45, fig. 73.

La Rocca, Donald J. "Stuart Pyhrr, the Consumate Curator of Arms and Armor." In The Armorer's Art: Essays in Honor of Stuart Pyhrr. Woonsocket, Rhode Island: Andrew Mowbray Inc. – Publishers, 2014. p. 10.

Nickel, Helmut, William Reid, Ian Eaves, Mario Scalini, Claude Gaier, Álvaro Soler Del Campo, Jean-Pierre Reverseau, Jan Piet Pyupe, Donald J. La Rocca, Jeffrey Forgeng, Jonathan Tavares, Dirk H. Breiding, Pierre Terjanian, and Mr. Ronald S. Lauder. The Armorer's Art: Essays in Honor of Stuart Pyhrr, edited by Donald J. La Rocca. Woonsocket, Rhode Island: Andrew Mowbray Inc. – Publishers, 2014. pp. 4, 10, ill.

Lauder, Ronald S. "Preface." In The Armorer's Art: Essays in Honor of Stuart Pyhrr. Woonsocket, Rhode Island: Andrew Mowbray Inc. – Publishers, 2014. p. 4, ill.

Essays
The Decoration of European Armor

Timelines
France, 1600–1800 A.D.

"Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection": The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 49, no. 1 (Summer, 1991)
How to Read European Armor
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)]
"Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1988–1989": The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 47, no. 2 (Fall, 1989)

Department

Arms and Armor (13,533)

Artist / Maker / Culture

Jean Drouart (1)

Object Type / Material

Armor (2,613)

Brass (4,827)

Copper alloy (19,036)

Iron and iron alloy (12,317)

Geographic Location

Date / Era

A.D. 1600–1800 (74,933)

Armor of Henry II, King of France (reigned 1547–59)

Artist: Part of the decoration design by Jean Cousin the Elder (French, Souci (?) ca. 1490–ca. 1560 Paris (?)) Date: ca. 1555 Medium: Steel, gold, silver, leather, textile Accession: 39.121a–n On view in:Gallery 374

Smallsword with Scabbard

Artist: Master GG (French, active Paris, ca. 1774) Date: hallmarked 1773–74 Medium: Gold, steel, wood, fish skin Accession: 1998.35a, b On view in:Gallery 376

Congressional Presentation Sword with Scabbard of Colonel Marinus Willett (1740–1830)

Artist: C. Liger (French, Paris, recorded 1770–93) Date: hallmarked for 1785–86 Medium: Steel, silver, gold, fish skin, textile, wood Accession: 17.87.3a, b On view in:Gallery 753

Costume Armor in the Classical Style

Artist: Helmet includes original paper label of Hallé (French, Paris, active ca. 1780–1800) Date: ca. 1788–90 Medium: Linen, papier-mâché, bole, gold leaf, graphite (helmet); silk, cotton, metal coils and spangles, metallic yarn (tunic) Accession: 1988.65.1–.2 On view in:Gallery 376

Partisan Carried by the Bodyguard of Louis XIV (1638–1715, reigned from 1643)

Date: ca. 1658–1715 Medium: Steel, gold, wood, textile, brass Accession: 04.3.64 On view in:Gallery 376