ITALIAN EMBOSSED 'ANIME' MILANESE SUIT OF ARMOUR, IN THE MANNER OF FELIPPO NEGROLI
19TH CENTURY, IN THE 16TH CENTURY STYLE
in the Mannersist style, comprising a burgonet with one piece skull with pointed peak and neck guard, decorated with volutes and acanthus leaves, pair of cheek-pieces; the articulated cuirass of ‘anime’ construction with a breastplate overlaid with an embossed winged cherub mask, the basal plate with a further human mask and skirt of two lames; the arm defences with a pair of spaulders embossed alla romana with large lion masks, vambraces and large couters, and gauntlets; the leg defences with articulated cuisses, the poleyns embossed with further masks, on a mannequin body for with carved wood head, mounted on an ebonised plinth with castors
196cm high overall
Note: The present lot, a most extraordinarily fanciful suit of armour, was made in the 19th century, and is based on the work of the 16th century Italian armourer Filippo Negroli, whose embossed armour was praised by sixteenth-century writers as ‘miraculous’ and deserving ‘immortal merit.’The second quarter of the sixteenth century witnessed the emergence of a new fashion of armour design based on the forms and ornament found in classical art. Embossed in high relief, richly gilt, and damascened in gold and silver, these lavish parade armours all'antica were worn by Renaissance kings and captains who wished to project an aura of power and virtue by arraying themselves like the heroes of ancient Roman history and mythology. The re-creation of classically inspired armour is invariably associated with Filippo Negroli, the most innovative and celebrated of the renowned armourers of Milan. Within the Negroli family, Filippo was the best known of his extremely successful generation, which included his brother Francesco, a skilled damascener in the service of Emperor Charles V, and his cousin Giovan Paolo, a talented master who provided armour to the French court.The extraordinary technical abilities of the Milanese armourers, combined with their imaginative adaptation of decorative motifs from the antique, such as lion and Medusa heads, fantastic creatures, and abundant foliate ornament, gave rise to an original art form that evokes the pomp and pageantry of the Renaissance courts.