The helmet crest as a badge of identity became a necessity in the thirteenth century, when European knights began to wear helmets that covered their faces. By the sixteenth century the use of crests tended to be limited to tournaments and funerary decorations in churches. For practical reasons most crests were fashioned from lightweight materials, such as gessoed and painted leather or wood, whereas this rare example is of gold-damascened iron. The seven-headed Hydra was the personal device of Sforza Pallavicino (ca. 1510–1585), a soldier who served in the imperial, papal, and Venetian armies. This crest, which is 7 5/8 inches in height, was intended to surmount a richly embossed and damascened helmet (now in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg) that bears the same Hydra emblem. (The rear portion of the tail appears to be an inaccurate restoration.)
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Title:Helmet Crest for the Burgonet of Sforza Pallavicino (1519–1585)
Date:ca. 1560
Geography:Milan
Culture:Italian, Milan
Medium:Iron, gold
Dimensions:7 5/8 x 4 1/16 x 6 1/2 in. (19.4 x 10.3 x 16.5 cm); Wt. 1 lb. 8 oz. (675 g)
Classification:Helmet Crests
Credit Line:Gift of Mrs. George Henry Warren, in memory of her husband, 1972
Object Number:1972.144.4
Ex colls.: Max and Maurice Rosenheim, London; Clarence Mackay, Roslyn, Long Island; George H. Warren, Newport, Rhode IslandMax and Maurice Rosenheim, London (until Maurice's d. 1922; his estate; Rosenheim Collections: Works of Art Comprising Seal Matrices, Rings, Jewellery, Cameos, Silver, Ivories, Instruments, Bronzes sale, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, May 11, 1923, no. 478 as a crest of Ludovico Gonzaga); Dr. Albert Figdor, Vienna (before d. 1927); Clarene H. Mackay, Roslyn, Long Island, New York (before d. 1938); Mrs. George Henry Warren, Newport, RI (until 1972; her gift to MMA).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965–1975," December 6, 1975–March 23, 1976.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "European Helmets 1450–1650: Treasures from the Reserve Collection," January 25, 2000–December 30, 2001, no. 35.
Geneva. Musée Rath, Musées d'Art et d'Histoire de Genève. "Parures Triomphales. Le Maniérisme dans l'Art de l'Armure Italienne," March 20–July 20, 2003.
Sotheby's, London. Rosenheim Collections: Works of Art Comprising Seal Matrices, Rings, Jewellery, Cameos, Silver, Ivories, Instruments, Bronzes. London: Sotheby's, London, May 9–11, 1923. no. 478, ill.
Cripps-Day, Francis Henry. A Record of Armour Sales, 1881–1924. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1925. p. 267, fig. 204.
Mann, J. G. "The Lost Armoury of the Gonzagas, Part II: The Libro Aquila." The Archaeological Journal (1943), pp. 37–38, pl. XL (A.).
Tarassuk, Leonid. "Deux Remarquables Armures Italiennes du XVIe Siècle à l'Ermitage." Armi Antiche III pp. 28–30, fig. 5.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Departmental Accessions, July 1, 1971–June 30, 1972." Metropolitan Museum Journal VII p. 164.
Nickel, Helmut. "Arms and Armor." In The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1965–1975. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975. p. 44, ill.
Thomas, Bruno, and Ortwin Gamber. Katalog der Leibrüstkammer, I. Teil, Der Zeitraum von 500 bis 1530. Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1976. p. 60.
Laking, Guy Francis, Charles Alexander Cosson, Francis Henry Cripps-Day, and Claude Blair. A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries. Vol. 6. Cambridge: Ken Trotman Ltd., 2000. p. 267, fig. 204.
Pyhrr, Stuart W. European Helmets, 1450–1650: Treasures from the Reserve Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jan 25, 2000 - Dec 30, 2000. p. 25, no. 35, ill.
Godoy, José-A., and Silvio Leydi. Parures Triomphales: Le Maniérisme dans l'Art de l'Armure Italienne. Milan: 5 Continents, 2003. pp. 95, 419–420, no. 14, ill.
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