Model Field Cannon (Culverin)

1595

Possibly by Hans Reischperger
Austrian, Vienna, active 1595

The coat of arms and inscription cast into the breach (back end) of this model cannon indicates that it was ordered by or presented to Hans Reischperger, the master of artillery for the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. Reischperger might have used it for courtly amusement or firing salutes.

Conversely, it may have been a scaled-down model presented to Reischperger by a gun founder (cannon maker) with hopes of gaining commissions from the master artilleryman for full-size artillery.

Cannons were costly and often treated like works of art. Its fine modeling and chasing of the ornament are exemplary of the craft. For example, the snake slithering along the top of the barrel is an artful play on the class of long-barreled cannon called a culverin after the French for grass snake.

Status: On View, Gallery 239
Department: Applied Arts of Europe

Artist: Hans Reischperger
Title: Model Field Cannon (Culverin)
Place: Vienna (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1590–1600
Medium: Bronze, iron, wood, and paint
Inscriptions: Inscribed: Master Hans Reischperger
Credit Line: George F. Harding Collection
Reference Number: 1982.2184a-b
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/106300/manifest.json

Walter Karchieski, “Arms and Armor in the Art Institute of Chicago” (Art Institute of Chicago/Little, Brown, and Company, 1995), p. 52 (ill.)

George F. Harding, Jr. (died 1939), bequeathed to the George F. Harding Museum, Chicago; transferred to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1982.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.