Close Helmet for the Tourney
c. 1580
- Medium
- Steel, brass, and leather
- Classification
- Armor
- Dimensions
- H.: 30.5 cm (12 in.)
- Culture
- Augsburg
- 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
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This helmet was used in the sport of the tourney, a mock battle on horseback or on foot. To protect against dangerous trusts entering under the helmet’s neck plates, the helmet’s collar is designed to rotate on a rim that closes over the separate gorget or neck defense. Though this allowed for some lateral head movement, it was a more restrictive alternative to the overlapping plates on close helmets for the field of battle.
The upper visor is reinforced with an additional plate to deflect strikes from a lance or sword. This reinforce was repaired with a riveted and braised patch covering the left visor pivot; together, with sword cuts over the comb or center ridge of the helmet, this repair suggests this piece received some heavy use.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
