id:			95817
accession number:	1916.1502
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1502
updated:		2023-03-03 07:01:10.511000

Helmet, c. 1560–80. Germany, Saxony, 16th century. Steel; overall: 34.5 x 32 x 22 cm (13 9/16 x 12 5/8 x 8 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1502

title:				Helmet
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1560–80
creation date earliest:		1555
creation date latest:		1585
current location:		210A Armor Court
creditline:			Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance
copyright:			

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culture:	Germany, Saxony, 16th century
technique:	steel
department:	Medieval Art
collection:	MED - Arms & Armor
type:		Arms and Armor
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 34.5 x 32 x 22 cm (13 9/16 x 12 5/8 x 8 11/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum
	opening date:   1991-06-07T04:00:00
	<i>Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).

	title:		Armor Court Reinstallation
	opening date:   1998-09-10T00:00:00
	<i>Armor Court Reinstallation</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Saxon Electoral Army, Dresden, Germany
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: -1916
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1916-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
Jousting contestants wore armor and charged at each other full speed on horseback, attempting to dismount the other with a lance. Such equipment protected contestants from injury, much like the helmet worn by football players today.

digital description:


wall description:
This helmet was developed for the joust, a sporting combat of arms between two mounted contestants. This example shows the asymmetry of jousting armor. The participants rode along a wall-like barrier known as a "tilt" with their left sides facing. Consequently, armor on that side of the body tended to be thicker. The breath holes in the helmet were placed on the right side (farthest from an opponent's lance) to avoid injuries from splinters. The popularity of jousts and tournaments peaked around 1500 and required armor and other sporting equipment adapted for the endlessly varied games. By the reign of Emperor Maximilian I (1493–1519), there were at least 11 different forms of mounted jousts, exclusive of the numerous ceremonial combats on foot using such weapons as swords, halberds, pikes, and throwing axes. Each blow in the contest, especially favored in Germany, was carefully numbered and prescribed by rules.
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RELATED WORKS

	id: 		95824
	Tilting Suit (composed), c. 1560–80. South Germany, 16th century. Steel, leather straps, brass rivets; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1511
	relationship: 	

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CITATIONS

	<em>Catalogue of Arms and Armour</em>. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900.
	page number: 	#319
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CatArmsArmour1/page/n219/mode/2up

	Hôtel des Ventes, Beauvais. <em>Catalogue des armes &amp; armures, habit de Mestre de Camp composant la collection de M. le Marquis de Belleval et de Licques. </em>Jan 21-23, 1901. Lot 261.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 27, lot 261
	url:		https://archive.org/details/Belleval/page/n32

	Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance, Elizabeth Huntington De Witt Severance, and Helen Ives Gilchrist.<em> A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms &amp; Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance</em>; 1916-1923. Cleveland: Cleveland museum of art, 1924.
	page number: 	A11
	url:		https://archive.org/details/SeveranceCollection1924

	Fliegel, Stephen N<em>. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>[Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.
	page number: 	color repr. p. 50, cat. no. 1, p. 162
	url:		

	Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>Arms &amp; Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>[Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
	page number: 	p. 182, no. 3
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1502/1916.1502_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1502/1916.1502_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1502/1916.1502_full.tif