This is a rare survivor of the 16th century bearing an applied relief armorial device. The helmet itself, 8" in height, is well developed in form with pointed top sometimes referred to as a "pear stalk". The brim is somewhat pointed front and back, features placing it in the evolution of the form which by 1600 had disappeared. It was blackened originally and would have been worn with a large colorful plume. At the time, all noble families would have had guard units armed for fighting in the streets and protected by armor such as this. The armorial device is formally described as a cross moline impaled with a ladder, probably representing Jacob's Ladder, the ladder to Heaven. The impaling of arms occurs in two circumstances: Marriage, where the wife's arms are placed alongside the husband's in the right field, and Official Appointment where the official places his arms alongside those of the institution which he serves; his arms occupying the "wife's" field at the right and the institution's occupying the "husband's" field at the left. Thus, the arms represent either the union of two families, the arms of which are the ladder and cross, respectively for the wife and husband, or the arms of an institution (the cross) and that of a member (the ladder). In this last instance, the use of the Maltese cross strongly suggests the Knights Hospitallers, that is, the Order of the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem. At this point, significant research and, particularly, organization of existing data is needed to efficiently identify Italian arms. It seems likely that, with resources now available, that will be done in the near future and the specific identity of this helmet revealed.