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Plackart from an Armor possibly of Prince Nikolaus VIII Christoph Radziwill of Poland (1549-1616)

A work made of steel with gilding.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of steel with gilding.

Date:

1573

Artist:

German, Augsburg

About this artwork

By the early sixteenth century armorers had devised a system of interchangeable pieces, called a garniture, that could be converted between use for battle and tournaments. These four reinforcing pieces belonged to an elaborate garniture produced for a member of the Radziwill family, princes of Poland and Lithuania. Pieces of this garniture were dispersed from the Radziwill family armory at Nesvizh Castle around the turn of the twentieth century.

Portions of this armor in the Art Institute include: reinforces for the sport of the joust— the bevor that strengthens the helmet visor and plackart that strangthens the breastplate. Two plates used in the tourney, a mock battle that required more mobility than the joust—the wrapper to reinforce the lower helmet visor and the guard brace to strengthen the left shoulder. Additionally, there are four sets of pauldrons or shoulder defenses, two tassets or thigh defenses, and two complete leg harnesses that formed parts of this garniture. One leg bears the date 1573 in the etched decoration.

The helmet is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while the breast and backplate are in the collection of the Museo Nazionale del Palazzo Venezia in Rome.

Status

On View, Gallery 239

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Title

Plackart from an Armor possibly of Prince Nikolaus VIII Christoph Radziwill of Poland (1549-1616)

Place

Augsburg (Object made in)

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.

1573

Medium

Steel with gilding

Dimensions

H 61 cm (24 in.) Wt.: 4 lb.

Credit Line

George F. Harding Collection

Reference Number

1982.2219q

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.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/106349/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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