Art Institute of Chicago
Cuirass from an Armor of Tsar Dmitry I
Italian; MilanLinkedCulture matchlcp-9c23e89de52f
- Date
- 1605/06
- Medium
- Steel
- Culture
- Milan
- Department
- Applied Arts of Europe
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 116344
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
The Moscow coat of arms with an imperial double-headed eagle identifies the owner of this breastplate as Dmitry I, the ill-fated tsar of Russia who falsely claimed to be Ivan the Terrible’s lost youngest son. After only 11 months of rule, members of the Russian nobility (boyars) assassinated him and shot the ashes of his body out of a cannon. Dmitry rose to power with Polish support and was heavily influenced by Western taste and politics. This Italian-made armor (with matching helmet , also in the Art Institute’s collection) represents the height of Western fashion at the time and might have been a diplomatic gift. Only traces remain of the original gilding that once highlighted the bands of etched decoration.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- George F. Harding Collection
- Provenance
- Probably commissioned in Milan for or by Tsar Dimitry I (died 1606), Moscow, c. 1605–06 [according to imperial double-headed eagle and coat-of-arms on the breastplate]. Probably Chlodwig Carl Viktor, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (died 1901), Ausbach, Germany, by 1901 [Stephen Grancsay, catalogue manuscript, Aug. 1967; copy in curatorial object file]. George F. Harding, Jr. (died 1939), Chicago; bequeathed to the George F. Harding Museum, Chicago; transferred to the Art Institute, 1982.
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300209266
Part of a LinkedCulture topic
European Renaissance Armor ComponentsThese objects are all pieces of defensive armor and military equipment from 15th-17th century Europe, primarily from major armoring centers like Italy, Germany, and France.
500 objects from 4 institutions
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