Cleveland Museum of Art
Demi-Chanfron
- Date
- c. 1550
- Medium
- steel, etched and gilded; leather
- Culture
- Germany, Augsburg
- Department
- Medieval Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 95848
From the Cleveland Museum of Art record
The chanfron, head defense for a horse, was introduced in the 1300s. It included two side pieces to protect the cheeks. In the 16th and 17th centuries, when armor failed to protect against firearms, it assumed greater importance as ornament. For this reason the demi (or half) chanfron covered the forehead of the horse but extended, like this one, only halfway down the nose. The Habsburg Spanish Court was served by the armorers of Augsburg in the 16th century. This impressively decorated piece, by tradition, is said to have once belonged to Philip II of Spain (1527–1598). A knight depended on his horse as both a weapon and a means of defense, and thus went to great lengths to care for and protect his charger.
The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance
- Provenance
- Philip II of Spain (1527-1598) | Frederic Spitzer (1815–1890), London England, and Paris, France | ?-1916: Frank Gair Macomber, Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art | 1916-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Cleveland Museum of Art and other institutions.