On cavalry helmets of this type, the face defense, called a falling buffe, can be lowered in three sections for better visibility and ventilation. This example has distinctive etched and gilded decoration featuring scrolling vines ending in dragon heads and cornucopias.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Closed Burgonet
Date:ca. 1560
Culture:Italian
Medium:Steel, gold
Dimensions:H. 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm); W. 10 in. (25.4 cm); D. 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm); Wt. 8 lb. 4 oz. (3755 g)
Classification:Helmets
Credit Line:Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Gift of Miss Harriet M. Dean, 1929
Accession Number:29.152.2
Marchése Guiseppe di Salvo di Ferrara, Palermo, Sicily (until 1919; sold to Dean); Bashford Dean, New York (1919–d. 1928; by descent to his sister, Harriet Dean); Harriet Martine Dean, New York (1928–29; her gift to MMA).
Los Angeles. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 15–March 18, 1953, no. 28.
San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 18–June 7, 1953, no. 28.
Pittsburgh. Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute. "Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 1953–April 1954, no. 28.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "European Helmets 1450–1650: Treasures from the Reserve Collection," January 25, 2000–December 30, 2001.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department," October 2, 2012–October 13, 2014.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1953. p. 15, no. 28.
"L'Armeria del Vicerè di Sicilia in una Mostra a Milano." Arte Figurativa Antica e Moderna 6 pp. 25-29.
Pyhrr, Stuart W. European Helmets, 1450–1650: Treasures from the Reserve Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jan 25, 2000 - Dec 30, 2000. p. 26, no. 38, ill.
Stamped with the armorer's name, LIONARDO (Italian, probably active in Milan, ca. 1440)
ca. 1440
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