Design for the Right Pauldron of a Parade Armor
Jean Cousin the Elder
ca. 1555 · Pen and ink with watercolor wash on paper · Arms and Armor
This design represents the front of the main plate on the right pauldron (shoulder defense) of an elaborately decorated armor. It is part of a large series of original drawings that are attributed to Etienne Delaune or Jean Cousin the Elder, artists employed by Henry II, King of France, from at least 1552 to 1559. Several armors and shields exist which were made from these drawings. Although not identical, this pauldron design is extremely similar to the decoration of two surviving armors: one made for the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian II (preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) and another made for Henry II, now in the Metropolitan Museum's collection (acc. no. 39.121a–n). On the armors Delaune's designs were delicately embossed in steel and then further embellished with gold and silver highlights alternating with areas of blued steel.
- Artist
- Jean Cousin the Elder
- Date
- ca. 1555
- Medium
- Pen and ink with watercolor wash on paper
- Culture
- French, Paris
- Department
- Arms and Armor
- Credit line
- Rogers Fund, 1954
