Cleveland Museum of Art
Cuirassier's Armor: Helmet
- Date
- c. 1600–20
- Medium
- steel (originally blued, now black); leather straps
- Culture
- Austria, Graz(?), early 17th century
- Department
- Medieval Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 170163
From the Cleveland Museum of Art record
The cuirassier was the heavy cavalryman of the late 1500s and early 1600s. Carrying pistols and a sword, he was clad in full armor, with the exception of his lower legs, which were protected by heavy riding boots. Shortly after 1650, such heavy cavalry armor disappeared from use. By then, European cavalries had abandoned full armor as impractical against the increased sophistication of firearms. When assembled, this suit of armor is just over 5-1/2 feet tall.
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Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Provenance
- Archduke Eugen of Austria, the Castle of Hohenwerfen, near Salzburg; Anderson Galleries, New York (1927); William Randolph Hearst (1956); David Norton Yerkes, Washington, DC; to his daughter, Catharine Y. Kulski [by inheritance]
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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