id: 159536 accession number: 1996.299 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1996.299 updated: 2023-04-23 11:16:00.440000 Half Armor for the Foot Tournament, c. 1590. Pompeo della Cesa (Italian, active 1572–93). Etched and gilded steel, brass rivets, leather and velvet fittings; overall: 31.7 x 27.7 x 21.6 cm (12 1/2 x 10 7/8 x 8 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1996.299 title: Half Armor for the Foot Tournament title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1590 creation date earliest: 1585 creation date latest: 1595 current location: 210A Armor Court creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: Italy, Milan, 15th century technique: etched and gilded steel, brass rivets, leather and velvet fittings department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Arms & Armor type: Arms and Armor find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Pompeo della Cesa (Italian, active 1572–93) - artist Pompeo della Cesa was the most renowned Italian armorer of the late 16th century. His clients included some of the most celebrated noblemen of their day--the two Spanish kings Philip II and III; Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza; and Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. He is known to have maintained a large workshop in Milan's castle--the so-called Sforza Castle. The original owner of this armor remains unidentified. However, armors made for patrons of noble rank were typically of very high quality like this one. Ostentation was of paramount importance for public spectacles such as tournaments or parades. Most wealthy patrons afforded the additional expense of embellishing their armors. The most frequently used decorative technique for armor was etching, seen here, in which acid was used to "bite" into exposed surfaces of the armor's steel plates to create permanent patterns. The etched and gilded decoration of this armor features vertical bands of strapwork enclosing cartouches which in turn contain allegorical figures, classical warriors, and trophies. The decoration represents Pompeo's classic style of armor decoration, one which is found on over forty surviving suits. These and other decorative patterns were normally recorded in pattern books from which the prospective client made his selections. --- measurements: Overall: 31.7 x 27.7 x 21.6 cm (12 1/2 x 10 7/8 x 8 1/2 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Armor Court Reinstallation opening date: 1998-09-10T00:00:00 Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer). title: Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2007-05-10T00:00:00 Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Durlacher Firm, London, England date: footnotes: citations: Edward Hubbard Litchfield (1845-1930), New York, NY date: ?-1951 footnotes: citations: (Arms & Armor, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, December 5-6, 1951, Lot 123) date: December 5-6, 1951 footnotes: citations: Leopold Blumka (1897-1973), New York, NY date: footnotes: citations: Eric Vaule (b. 1938), Bridgewater, Connecticut date: footnotes: citations: (Peter Finer, Warwickshire, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?-1996 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1994- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Pompeo della Cesa was the Armani or Gucci of the 1500s; everyone wanted to wear him. digital description: wall description: This armor was designed for the foot tournament, an event that was separate from the equestrian jousts popularized during the Middle Ages and still favored among Renaissance aristocracies throughout Europe. Foot tournaments were commonly fought over a barrier that separated the combatants and gave protection to their legs, so a half-armor such as this one provided sufficient protection. The original owner of this suit would have worn it with colorful puffed and slashed britches and hose. The use of outlandish accessories, such as a large ostrich feather plume (a brass plume holder may be seen on the back of the helmet) and red velvet pickadils between the steel plates, provided additional splendor. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc. The Important Collection of Arms and Armor, Mainly XV-XIX Century. 1951. page number: Cat. No. 123, pp. 32-33 url: Cleveland Museum of Art, “Renaissance Armor, Early Islamic Ceramic, French Vase, Gleitsman Painting Added to Museum Collection,” December 13, 1996, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. page number: url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr4085 Cleveland Museum of Art Annual Report, 1996. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1997. page number: p. 47, p. 34 url: Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. page number: Cat. no. 6, p. 182 url: May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. page number: Reproduced: no. 32, p. 36 url: Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. page number: p. 80, Cat. No. 7, p. 162 url: Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. München: Hirmer, 2007. page number: p. 284, repr. p. 285, no. 107 url: Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 298-299, no. 114 url: Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 283 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1996.299/1996.299_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1996.299/1996.299_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1996.299/1996.299_full.tif