Grosschedel, Landshut’s most renowned armorer of the mid-sixteenth century, fulfilled many commissions for both the German and the Spanish branches of the Hapsburg family. The decoration of this helmet is very similar to that of a large garniture made by Grosschedel for King Philip II of Spain (1513–1579) about 1560. It also resembles the decoration on a large series of armors that Grosschedel and others made for Emperor Ferdinand I (1503–1564) and his son, Maximilian II (1527–1576, Emperor from 1564) for use in a large tournament held in Vienna in 1560. It is not known to which commission the helmet originally belonged.
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Title:Close Helmet
Armorer:Attributed to Wolfgang Grosschedel (German, Landshut, active ca. 1517–62)
Date:ca. 1560
Geography:Landshut
Culture:German, Landshut
Medium:Steel, leather, copper alloy
Dimensions:H. 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm); W. 9 1/8 in. (23.2 cm); D. 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm); Wt. 11 lb. 3.1 oz. (5077.4 g)
Classification:Helmets
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1904
Accession Number:04.3.267a
Charles Maurice Camille de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Dino, Paris (until 1904; sold to MMA).
Allentown. Allentown Art Museum. "Arms and Armor: A Loan Exhibition from the Collection of Stephen V. Grancsay: with Important Contributions by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the John Woodman Higgins Armory, Worcester, Massachusetts," March 15–June 14, 1964, no. 4.
New York. Dick Cavett Show. "Dick Cavett Show," September 17, 1971.
Crooke y Navarrot, Juan Bautista Conde de Valencia de Don Juan, and Real Armería. Catálogo Histórico-Descriptivo de la Real Armería de Madrid. Madrid: Fototipias de Hauser y Menet, 1898. pp. 76–77, nos. A.231–A.238.
Cosson, Charles Alexander. Le Cabinet d'Armes de Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Dino. Paris: E. Rouveyre, 1901. p. 19, no. A.10.
Fuhse, F. Schmiede und verwandte Gewerke in der Stadt Braunschweig: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Handwerks und zur Familienkunde. Werkstücke aus Museum, Archiv und Bibliothek der Stadt Braunschweig, Vol. 5. Brunswick: E. Appelhans & Comp., 1930.
Lhotsky, Alphons. "Festschrift des Kunsthistorischen Museums zur Feier des Fünfzigjährigen Bestandes." In Die Geschichte der Sammlungen. Teilband 1: Von den Anfängen bis zum Tode Kaiser Karls VI. 1740; Teilband 2: Von Maria Theresia bis zum Ende der Monarchie.. Vol. 2, nos. 1 and 2. Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1941–1945. p. 151 (similar armors discussed).
Kienbusch, Carl Otto von. The Kretzschmar von Kienbusch Collection of Armor and Arms. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Library, 1963. pp. 106, 111, 143; nos. 178, 193, 292.
Allentown Art Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and John Woodman Higgins Armory. Arms and Armor: A Loan Exhibition from the Collection of Stephen V. Grancsay: with Important Contributions by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the John Woodman Higgins Armory, Worcester, Massachusetts: March 15–June 14, 1964. Allentown, Pa.: Allentown Art Museum, March 15, 1964–June 14, 1964. p. 16, 18, 22, no. 4, fig. 4.
Spitzlberger, Georg. Landshuter Plattnerkunst, Ein Überblick mit Katalog der Ausstellung, vom 14. Juni bis 20. Juli 1975, täglich 9–17 Uhr, im Deutschen Saal der Stadtresidenz. Landshut: K. Möginger, 1975. pp. 31, 67, no. 43, pl. 31.
La Rocca, Donald J. How to Read European Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017. pp. 32–33, fig. 37.
Wolfgang Grosschedel (German, Landshut, active ca. 1517–62)
1554 and later
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