Shaffron (Horse's Head Defense) Belonging to an Armor for Field and Tournament Made for Duke Nikolaus "The Black" Radziwill (1515–1565), Duke of Nesvizh and Olyka, Prince of the Empire, Grand Chancellor and Marshal of Lithuania
This shaffron is part of an important garniture of armor for field and tournament use made for Nikolaus "the Black" Radziwill (1515–1565), duke of Nesvizh and Olyka, prince of the empire, and grand chancellor and marshall of Lithuania––one of the wealthiest and most important nobles in Poland and Lithuania. Several elements of the garniture survive, six of which (including this one) are preserved in the Metropolitan Museum's collection. Made by the distinguished Nuremberg armorer Kunz (Konrad) Lochner, the Radziwill armor, with its overall etched design of interlaced strapwork and brilliant polychromy, is one of the most distinctive and colorful examples of the sixteenth century. (The right eye guard and portions of the left are modern restorations; the majority of the polychromy is repainted.)
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Title:Shaffron (Horse's Head Defense) Belonging to an Armor for Field and Tournament Made for Duke Nikolaus "The Black" Radziwill (1515–1565), Duke of Nesvizh and Olyka, Prince of the Empire, Grand Chancellor and Marshal of Lithuania
Date:ca. 1555; probably repainted and eye guards restored later
Geography:Nuremberg
Culture:German, Nuremberg
Medium:Steel, brass, gold, paint
Dimensions:H. 23 1/4 in. (59 cm); W. 13 1/4 in. (33.6 cm); D. 7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm); Wt. 4 lb. 8 oz. (2034 g)
Classification:Equestrian Equipment-Shaffrons
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1921
Object Number:21.42
Princes Radziwill, Nesvizh Castle, Grand-Duchy of Lithuania (modern-day Belarus) (before 1912); Count Kouchaleff-Bezborodko, Saint Petersburg (until 1912; his sale, Armes et Armures Collections de S. Exc. Monsieur H. P. de B. . . . à St.-Pétersbourg, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 21–23, 1912, sold, for Fr. 30,000, to Bachereau]; [Victor Bachereau, Paris, 1912–20, sold to MMA].
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg, 1300–1550," April 8–June 22, 1986, no. 278.
Nuremberg. Germanisches Nationalmuseum. "Nürnberg 1300–1550: Kunst der Gotik und Renaissance," July 24–September 28, 1986, no. 278.
Nuremberg. Germanisches Nationalmuseum. "Quasi Centrum Europae. Europa kauft in Nurnberg, 1400–1800," June 20–October 6, 2002, no. 43.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480–1620," February 15, 2005–September 3, 2007, no. 18.
Boeheim, Wendelin, and J. Löwy. Album hervorragender Gegenstände aus der Waffensammlung des allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses: Herausgegeben mit Genehmigung des hohen Oberstkämmerer-Amtes seiner K.u.k. apostolischen Majestät. Vol. 1. Vienna: J. Löwy, 1894. p. 19, no. XXXV, pl. XXXV.
Ossbahr, C. A. Kongl. Lifrustkammaren: Och Dermed Förenade Samlingar. Stockholm: P. A. Norstedt, 1897. pp. 2–3, no. 5, pl. V (a similar armor discussed and illustrated, with mention of elements in various locations, probably this armor).
Pułaski, Franciszek. Inwentarz Zbrojowni Ordynacyi Hr. Krasińskich. Warsaw: W drukarni Alexandra Ginsa, 1909. p. 12, no. 161, tabl. 9 (a related shield).
Hôtel Drouot. Armes et Armures des XVe, XVIe, XVIIe et XVIIIe Siècles. Paris: Hôtel Drouot, May 21–23, 1912. p. 9, no. 17.
Dean, Bashford. "A Part of a Radzivil Horse Panoply." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (April 1921), pp. 80–82, ill.
Piotrowska, Irena. "Polish Arms and Armor in The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Polish Review (December 6, 1943), pp. 8–10, ill.
Thomas, Bruno. Deutsche Plattnerkunst. Munich: F. Bruckmann, 1944. p. 115, pl. 47.
Thomas, Bruno. "Die Wiener und die Stockholmer Lochner-Rüstung." Nationalmusei Årsbok (1947–48), pp. 61–92, figs. 42–47.
Thomas, Bruno, and Ortwin Gamber. "Die Polonica der Wiener Waffensammlung." Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien 67, no. 224 pp. 66–68, figs. 55–58.
Gamber, Ortwin. "Der Plattner Kunz Lochner - Harnische als Zeugnisse Habsburgishcer Politik." Jahrbuch Der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien (1984), pp. 56–57.
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. 468–69, no. 278, ill.
The 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. 468–69, no. 278, ill.
Maué, Hermann, and Christine Kupper. Quasi Centrum Europae: Europa Kauft in Nürnberg 1400–1800. Nuremberg: Verlag des Germanischen Nationalmuseums, 2002. pp. 468–69, no. 43, 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. 48–50, 59, 70, no. 18, ill.
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