Visored Bascinet
1390/1400
- Medium
- Steel and brass
- Classification
- Armor
- Dimensions
- H.: 24.1 cm (9 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- Italy
- 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
The quintessential knightly helmet of the late 14th century, the bascinet was used throughout Europe. Its pronounced conical skull and pointed visor were designed to deflect blows side to side and were described in its own time in Germany as a Hundsgugel, or hound’s hood. The pierced steel pins around the base of the skull were used to attach a mail hood, called an aventail, that protected the shoulders.
Complete surviving examples are rare. This helmet is made of two separate period parts, skull and visor, which were repaired and joined in the early 20th century to make a complete example.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
