Armet

Unknown

ca. 1520 · Steel · Arms and Armor

Formerly part of a funerary achievement hung over a knight's tomb, this helmet originally appeared on the art market surmounted with a spike intended to support a heraldic crest. The location of the chapel and the identity of the knight are not recorded. This late form of armet (now incomplete) originally had a pivoting visor and articulated collar lames. Several features are especially noteworthy: the large cusped brow reinforce that overlaps a secondary reinforce covering the back of the bowl; the articulating lames covering the back of the neck; and the placement of the hinges of the cheekpieces at the back rather than at the top. While its overall form is Italianate, the armet's unusual construction recalls other helmets found in English churches, some of which are thought to be of English or Flemish manufacture.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1520

Medium

Steel

Culture

Anglo-Flemish

Department

Arms and Armor

Credit line

Purchase, Rogers Fund and Bequest of Stephen V. Grancsay, by exchange, 1985