Art Institute of Chicago

Gauntlet for the Left Hand

Lucio Piccinino (Italian, active 1575-1595)

Date

1575/90

Medium

Steel, gold, silver, and brass

Culture

Milan

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Intended purely for spectacle, parade armor represented the pinnacle of the armorer’s art. This fragmentary gauntlet for the right hand was part of such a harness. The workshop of Lucio Piccinino produced several similar commissions for various dukes and princes of the Habsburg court. The work of several craftsmen, this gauntlet merges the arts of armoring and goldsmithing. Here the technique of gold-and-silver overlay is combined with embossing—pushing the thin steel from both inside and out. With its riot of classical ornament, including grotesque figures, fruit garlands, and trophies of arms, the decoration reflects the prevailing artistic taste, known as Mannerism, at the end of the 16th century.

The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.