Small Sallet (Celatina)

This rare small sallet (celatina) is stamped with a partially effaced mark attributed to the Missaglia family, the leading armorers of Milan in the mid-fifteenth century. It is one of approximately 100 helmets that were included in the Chalcis group, a unique time capsule comprising about 450 pieces of fourteenth and fifteenth century armor that were abandoned in Chalcis, then a Venetian outpost in Greece, after the city was conquered in 1470, and were not rediscovered until 1840. The Chalcis group, of which more than 200 items are part of the Met’s permanent collection, constitutes the largest selection of elements of fifteenth century armor anywhere in the world. The helmet shows significant damage from projectiles, probably musket balls and crossbow bolts. Whether the damage was caused during the siege of Chalcis or later is impossible to know. Fortunately, and unlike many other pieces in the Chalcis group, this helmet was never restored, other than surface cleaning, and remains largely in the condition in which it was found.