Tournament Sallet (Rennhut) with Buffe
c. 1570/1600
- Medium
- Steel, iron, brass, and leather
- Classification
- Armor
- Dimensions
- H.: 47 cm (18 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- Saxony
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Applied Arts of Europe
- Credit line
- George F. Harding Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This type of helmet, called a sallet, was part of a complete jousting armor. Its buffe (lower face and neck guard) would be bolted down over the breastplate to bolster the jouster against heavy blows from an opponent’s lance. The ensemble formed part of a group of locally made jousting armors that stocked the Duke of Saxony’s armory. Members of the duke’s court used them on festive occasions. Records show that they continued to be used for over three hundred years, long after most courts had abandoned the sport.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
