During the fourteenth century the Italian armourers had been making steady progress towards fame, and in no city more so than Milan, where, towards the end of the century, armourers came to the front whose names are famous. A Milanese salade, c. 1480, is represented in [Plate VII.*], p. [60], and was produced by one of the Negroli family, who made their home in the city. The salade is cast in one piece, except the visor, and the ornamentation is a pleasing combination of the Italian and Oriental styles. The delicacy, vigour, and force of its execution may readily be perceived upon inspection of the illustration. Another example of the work of the Negrolis is given in [Plate X.*], p. [80], which represents a three-quarter suit made for Charles V. The Milanese were among the first to feel and acknowledge the influence of the Renaissance in their work, and the decorations upon the pauldrons, coudières, &c., of this suit exemplifies it.
Among the armourers who were entrusted with work for King Philip II. of Spain, the successor of Charles V., were the Wolf family of Landshut, and an example of their skill is shown in Plate [XXXI.*], p. [346], upon the suit known as the Burgundy Cross armour. It was made in 1551 by Sigmund Wolf, and is richly decorated with bands of the natural colour of the steel, on which are etched alternately the Cross of Burgundy (the St. Andrew’s Cross), and the emblems of the Golden Fleece, all gilded. The high pike-guard upon the right shoulder is a structural feature of this suit. An example of German armour dating from 1549, when Philip was heir-apparent ([Plate XXI.*], p. [236]), is an excellent example of the Decorative Period of the sixteenth century; it shows a mitten gauntlet upon the left hand, and unequal tassets. An earlier suit, made by Desiderius Colman in 1545, is adapted for jousting on foot, and has lamboys or bases ([Plate XII.*], p. [128]). The espalier pauldrons and roundels, the peascod breastplate, and the lames of plate over the knee in the cuisses, are features of the suit. Wolf of Landshut in 1554 made a suit for Philip II. ([Plate XV.*], p. [146]), for the Über die Pallia, or Welsches Gestech Course, which exhibits the manteau d’armes affixed and a small reinforcing piece attached to the right espalier, forming a pike-guard. To this suit a forbidden or locking gauntlet for the right hand is attached. The tassets are of unequal length. A helmet supplied at the same time as the above suit is a veritable triumph of the armourers craft ([Plate XVI.*], p. [166]). The details may readily be seen in the illustration, and the volante piece, fixed to the helmet by a strap round the gorget, and so moving with it, is of special interest. Sigismund Wolf in 1550 made a suit for Philip which is represented in [Plate XIII.*], p. [132]. “Many of the extra pieces for this suit are now at Brussels. The ornamentation is chaste, consisting of narrow bands, etched with graceful scrolls and volutes on white burnished steel.”
PLATE XXXV*
Milanese Armour of King Philip IV.
A. F. Calvert
The year 1554, which saw the production of some of the above suits, probably witnessed the delivery of another to King Sebastian of Portugal, which is preserved in the Royal Armoury at Madrid, and is perhaps the most magnificent in the whole collection. The details of the backplate, pauldrons, and arm defences are shown in [Plate XX.*], p. [232]. It is the work of Anton Pfeffenhauser of Augsburg, and undoubtedly his masterpiece; as an example of repoussé work it places him upon an equality with the best German masters of his time. “Mythological figures are embossed upon the bands traversing the backplate; designs symbolical of Power, Victory, Peace, and Navigation are represented on the pauldrons, back and front, while the coudières display the four figures of the cardinal virtues.” It is essentially a pageant suit, as is also the one presented to Philip III., when prince, at the age of seven. It is a half-suit of Italian workmanship, formed in gilded iron and decorated with figures, masks, &c., all embossed and damascened ([Plate XVIII.*], p. [196]). Another, presented to the same monarch in his childhood, is represented in [Plate XIX.*], p. [212], and is believed to be the work of Lucio Picinino of Milan. The decoration is less profuse but quite as beautiful as in the preceding example. A piece of Spanish armour made at Pamplona in Navarre in 1620 is shown in [Plate XXII.*], p. [240]. Mr. Calvert states: “It is of steel-plated iron and of extraordinary thickness.… A curious feature is the seven indentations made by the bullets of an arquebus, and each set with silver pearls. These marks do not say much for the quality of the metal, which is 10 millimetres thick. The backplate, which is only 3 millimetres thick, has been perforated by a bullet. The arms are defended by espaliers reaching to the elbow, where they meet the cuffs of the gauntlets.”
[Plate XXI.*], p. [236], is a suit of Milanese make, early seventeenth century, intended for war purposes, and absolutely devoid of ornamentation. An example of Flemish armour of 1624 is represented in [Plate XXIII.*], p. [268]; it was sent by the Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia to Philip IV. The ugliness of the breastplate and the huge rivet-heads upon the pauldrons are strongly suggestive of the “boiler plate” armour prevailing in England at the same period. [Plate XXXV.*] is a suit presented by the Cardinal Infante Ferdinand to Philip IV., and exhibits the lames of plate inserted in the gousset of the coudière, similar to the Henry VIII. foot armour in the Tower. It is of Milanese make, and decorated with vertical bands of medallions, &c.