Vittoriano
Helmet
Milieu Negroli C. 1510
The helmet features a skullcap with fan-shaped edges extending from the back of the neck, and includes a helical central crest designed to accommodate a heraldic emblem. The reinforced frontal plate is characterized by three cusps, with the central cusp protruding above the crest. The ventail is of the "bellows" type, incorporating ventilation openings exclusively on the right side. Additionally, holes around the neck are provided for the attachment of a chainmail gorget.
The helmet features a skullcap with fan-shaped edges extending from the back of the neck, and includes a helical central crest designed to accommodate a heraldic emblem. The reinforced frontal plate is characterized by three cusps, with the central cusp protruding above the crest. The ventail is of the "bellows" type, incorporating ventilation openings exclusively on the right side. Additionally, holes around the neck are provided for the attachment of a chainmail gorget.
Details of work
Denomination: Helmet
Author:
Milieu Negroli
Object date: C. 1510 Material:
Steel
Dimensions: height 28 cm; width 20.5 cm; weight 2918 g
Typology:
Weapons
Acquisition: 1959 Place: Palazzo Venezia
Main inventory number:
12011
Other numbers: Odescalchi n. 721
Catalog entry
Despite its apparent simplicity, this helmet possesses several significant features. Scalini (2018, 134) highlights the extraordinary nature of this piece as an exemplary transitional helmet between the sallet with ventail, familiar from Venetian iconography such as Giorgione’s portrait known as Gattamelata in the Uffizi, and the modern helmets of the sixteenth century. The angular craftsmanship is reminiscent of the Germanic style, which is unsurprising given that, in the early sixteenth century, German cannellini workmanship was so successful that even Italian armorers began to incorporate this style into their creations—see also, for instance, the helmet housed in the Stibbert Museum in Florence (inv. 2804). Scalini (2018) also notes other comparable examples of transitional helmets, including those found in Passariano at Villa Manin, the National Museum of Ravenna, the Kretzschmar von Kienbusch Collection in Philadelphia, or the one previously sold by Harold L. Peterson (Christie’s, July 5, 1978, lot 176), which notably feature a visor instead of a ventail.
Riccardo Franci
Entry published on 12 June 2025
State of conservation
Fair. Surfaces altered by old oxidation.
Provenance
Collezione Odescalchi, 1959;
Rome, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, June 30, 1959.
Exhibition history
Rome, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, Antiche armi dal sec. IX al XVIII. Già Collezione Odescalchi, May–July 1969;
Rome, Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant’Angelo; Roma, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, Armi e potere nell’Europa del Rinascimento, July 26–November 11, 2018.
References
di Carpegna Nolfo (a cura di), Antiche armi dal sec. IX al XVIII. Già Collezione Odescalchi, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, maggio-luglio 1969), con schede a cura del curatore, Roma 1969, p. 10, n. 34;
di Carpegna Nolfo, Le armi Odescalchi, Roma 1976, p. 10;
Scalini, in Scalini Mario (a cura di), Armi e potere nell’Europa del Rinascimento, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant’Angelo; Roma, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, 26 luglio-11 novembre 2018), Cinisello Balsamo 2018, n. IV.11, p. 134.
Related objects
