Helmets fitted with masklike visors were a popular German and Austrian fashion about 1510 to 1540. With their visors forged and embossed as humorous or grotesque human masks, such helmets were often worn in tournaments held during the exuberant pre-Lenten (Shrovetide) festivals, celebrations somewhat akin to the modern Mardi Gras. Substitute visors of more conventional type were often provided for everyday use.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Overall
Overall
Overall
Overall
Three-quarter
Right
Overall
Overall
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Mask Visor in Form of a Human Face
Armorer:Attributed to Kolman Helmschmid (German, Augsburg 1471–1532)
Date:ca. 1515
Geography:Augsburg
Culture:German, Augsburg
Medium:Steel, gold
Dimensions:H. 12 in. (30.5 cm); W. 9 3/4 in. (24.8 cm); D. 13 in. (33 cm); Wt. 4 lb. 12 oz. (2146 g)
Classification:Helmets
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1904
Object Number:04.3.286a
Radziwill Armory, Nesvizh Castle (before 1871); Jean-Baptiste Carrand, Lyons and Paris (until d. 1871; by descent through the family to Louis Carrand); Louis Carrand, Paris (after 1871); [Frédéric Spitzer, Paris, by 1878 (?)–d. 1890; his posthumous sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, June 10–14, 1895, no. 7, for Fr 76,000 (for the entire lot) to Duc de Dino]; Charles Maurice Camille de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Dino, Paris (1895–1904; sold to MMA).
Paris. Palais du Trocadéro. "Exposition Universelle de 1878: L'Exposition Historique du Trocadéro," May 1–October 31, 1878 (probably this armor, lent by F. Spitzer).
Paris. Musée de l'Armée. "Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1889: Exposition Rétrospective du Travail et des Sciences Anthropologiques," 1889, no. 637 (as "Armure de guerre. – Travail allemand, XVIe siècle. lent by Spitzer).
Bréban, Philibert. Livret-Guide du Visiteur à l'Exposition Historique du Trocadéro, edited by E. Dentu. Paris, 1878. p. 53 (probably this armor, lent by F. Spitzer).
Exposition universelle de 1889. Catalogue Général Officiel: Exposition Rétrospective du Travail et des Sciences Anthorpologiques. Vol. 5. Arts Militaires. Lille: L. Danel, 1889. p. 85, no. 637 (lent by Spitzer).
Bonnaffé, Edmond. Le Musée Spitzer. Paris: Imprimerie de l'art, 1890. p. 30 (this armor?).
Laking, Guy Francis, Sir, Charles Alexander Cosson, and Francis Henry Cripps-Day. A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries. Vol. III. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1920. pp. 256–58, fig. 1039.
Thomas, Bruno. "Der Wiener Prunkharnisch des Wilhelm von Rogendorf." Das Antiquariat 8 pp. 84–86.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1953. p. 8, no. 4, ill.
Norman, A. V. B. Arms and Armour. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1964. p. 63, fig. 65.
Nickel, Helmut. Warriors and Worthies: Arms and Armor Through the Ages. New York: Atheneum, 1969. p. 76, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. Ullstein-Waffenbuch: eine kulturhistorische Waffenkunde mit Markenverzeichnis. Berlin: Ullstein, 1974. pp. 129, 143, ill.
Thomas, Bruno. Gesammelte Schriften zur historischen Waffenkunde: [überarb. Nachdr. von 88 in Fachzeitschriften u. Einzelpublikationen ersch. Abhandlungen des Autors]. Vol. 2. Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1977. pp. 1163–70.
Thomas, Bruno. "Der Turiner Prunkharnisch für Feld und Turnier B.2 des Nürnberger Patriziers Wilhelm Rieter von Boxberg: Meisterwerk von Kolman Helmschmid zu Augsburg um 1525." Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien (1977), p. 153.
Jäger, Felix. "Sovereign Infamy: Grotesque Helmets, Masks of Shame and the Prehistory of Caricature." In Images of Shame: Infamy, Defamation, and the Ethics of Oeconomia. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016. pp. 172–75, fig. 2.
La Rocca, Donald J. How to Read European Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017. p. 130, fig. 143.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
