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Armor for Man and Horse

man's armor, ca. 1575 and later; horse armor, ca. 1560 and later
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 371
The man's armor, dating from about 1575, is part of a small garniture that included exchange elements for the battlefield and reinforcing pieces for the tournament. The breastplate is a restoration.

The horse armor, dating from about 1560, is one of the few complete examples of its period to be preserved. It comes from the armory of the counts Collalto at the castle of San Salvatore, near Treviso, where it was presumably kept from the late sixteenth until the early twentieth century. The bands of etched ornament include classically inspired trophies of arms and armor and musical instruments. These were standard decorative motifs on Italian armor of the period, but here, they are depicted with much more precision, on a larger scale, and in far greater detail and variety than usual. The high quality of the horse armor and its elaborate decoration indicate that it must have belonged to a leading member of the Collalto family, perhaps Collatino Collalto (1523–1569), who was famous both as a soldier and as a man of letters.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Armor for Man and Horse
  • Date: man's armor, ca. 1575 and later; horse armor, ca. 1560 and later
  • Geography: probably Milan
  • Culture: Italian, probably Milan
  • Medium: Steel, gold, leather, copper alloy, textile
  • Dimensions: man's armor: Wt. approx. 47 lb. 5 oz. (21.5 kg); horse armor with saddle: Wt. 87 lb. 14 oz. (39.85 kg)
  • Classification: Armor for Man
  • Credit Line: man's armor, saddle, spurs: Gift of William H. Riggs, 1913; horse armor, stirrups: Fletcher Fund, 1921
  • Object Number: 14.25.717a,c–r,1653,.1720; 21.139.2,.9–.10
  • Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Pair of Stirrups from a Horse Armor Made for a Member of the Collalto Family, Iron alloy, Italian, probably Milan
Pair of Stirrups from a Horse Armor Made for a Member of the Collalto Family
Italian, probably Milan
ca. 1560
Horse Armor Made for a Member of the Collalto Family, Steel, gold, leather, Italian, probably Milan
Horse Armor Made for a Member of the Collalto Family
Italian, probably Milan
ca. 1560 and later
Saddle
German, Bavaria
ca. 1525
Armor, Steel, gold, leather, copper alloy, textile, Italian, probably Milan
Armor
Italian, probably Milan
ca. 1575; breastplate, later; lancerest and gilt decoration, probably 18th–19th century
Pair of Spurs
German or Hungarian
16th century

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