Light cuirass (part)

This composite light cuirass consists of parts from two different sets. The breastplate is ribbed and sharply pointed, featuring an engraving on the right side that depicts a warrior in armor kneeling with hands clasped in adoration, his helmet resting on the ground, and surmounted by a scroll inscribed “AUF GLUCK MIT FREUD 1561” (good luck with joy 1561). On the left side, there is a depiction of the crucified Christ with the “cross of Burgundy” behind him, and a scroll on the cross bearing the inscription “INRJO.” Below the neck opening is an engraved band of foliage and fruit scrolls on a blackened granite background. Scalini (Scalini 2018, 296) notes that the three plackart lames were added when this set was part of the Willet Collection. The other components are homogeneous and belonged to a single set. The flanchards are modular, consisting of two parts joined by pivoting rivets; the lower part can be detached to create shorter tassets if necessary. Both the couters and the faceplate bear the marks of the city of Augsburg, with the latter also displaying a cartouche dated “1563.” According to Carpegna (di Carpegna 1969, 5), the decoration style of these pieces resembles the remains of a garniture dated 1560 that belonged to Kaspar von Vels, a courtier of Archduke Charles II of Styria, which is preserved at the Landesmuseum in Graz. Engravings of busts featuring the iconography of the adoring warrior are common among works by Germanic manufacturers. Notably, two examples can be found at the Stibbert Museum in Florence (inventory nos. 2578 and 4809), one of which is attributed to Kunz Lochner, a master active in Nuremberg in the mid-16th century.

Riccardo Franci

Entry published on 12 June 2025

Good. Surfaces altered by old oxidation, engravings partly worn with loss of blackening of the background. The pauldronshave small cracks and flaking.

In the nineteenth century, the three plackart lames were integrated on commission from Willet.

On the breastplate is a cartouche bearing the inscription “AUF GLUCK MIT FREUD 1561,” and on the cross is a plaque reading “INRJO.” On the throat, a plaque bears the year “1563.”

The breastplate at the base of the crucifix features the “cross of Burgundy.” The couters and faceplate are marked with symbols representing the city of Augsburg.

Willet Collection (Christie’s. 1.4.1903, lot no. 115);
S. J. Whawell Collection;
Collezione Odescalchi, until 1959;
Rome, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, June 30, 1959.

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.

Cripps Day Francis Henry, A Record of Armour Sales, 1881-1924, London 1925, p. 131;
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. 5, n. 10;
di Carpegna Nolfo, Le armi Odescalchi, Roma 1976, p. 5;
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,p. 296,  n. XI.4.