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Portions of a Costume Armor

Armorer Kolman Helmschmid German
ca. 1525
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 374
This armor reproduces in steel the extravagant puffed and slashed costume of the German Landsknechte (mercenary infantry troops). The matching pieces are preserved in the Musée de l'Armée, Paris. Coming from the Radziwill armory in Nesvizh in present-day Belarus, this armor may have been made for Jerzy Herkules Radziwill (1480–1541), a powerful Polish nobleman.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Portions of a Costume Armor
  • Armorer: Kolman Helmschmid (German, Augsburg 1471–1532)
  • Date: ca. 1525
  • Geography: Augsburg
  • Culture: German, Augsburg
  • Medium: Steel, copper alloy, gold
  • Dimensions: H. 27 in. (68.6 cm); W. 18 in. (45.7 cm); Wt. 24 lb. 3.24 oz. (10.978 kg)
  • Classification: Armor for Man
  • Credit Line: Backplate and rump: Gift of Bashford Dean, 1924; vambraces: Mrs. Stephen V. Harkness Fund, 1926; top lames of vambraces: Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Funds from various donors, 1929
  • Object Number: 24.179; 26.188.1, .2; 29.158.363a, b
  • Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Top Lames of Vambraces (Arm Defenses) from a Costume Armor, Kolman Helmschmid German, Steel, copper alloy, gold, German, Augsburg
Top Lames of Vambraces (Arm Defenses) from a Costume Armor
Kolman Helmschmid
ca. 1525
Pair of Vambraces (Arm Defenses) from a Costume Armor, Kolman Helmschmid German, Steel, copper alloy, gold, German, Augsburg
Pair of Vambraces (Arm Defenses) from a Costume Armor
Kolman Helmschmid
ca. 1525
Backplate and Hoguine (Rump Defense) from a Costume Armor, Kolman Helmschmid German, Steel, gold, German, Augsburg
Backplate and Hoguine (Rump Defense) from a Costume Armor
Kolman Helmschmid
ca. 1525
Falling Buffe, Kolman Helmschmid German, Steel, textile (wool, canvas), German, Augsburg
Falling Buffe
Kolman Helmschmid
ca. 1525
Right Arm Defense
Kolman Helmschmid
ca. 1520

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