Horsemen in the imperial arsenal of Vienna
... for a horse appeared to them with a terrible horseman.
Second Book of Maccabees 3: 25
Second Book of Maccabees 3: 25
Military museums of Europe. Last time we looked at dummy riders in armor and horseback ridingexhibited in various museums. And probably story each such "exhibit" (if you delve into it, of course!) will be very interesting. The only trouble is that there is no time to dig, and sometimes there is simply no information on the exhibit. Not all armor is even weighed and measured, and the thickness of the metal is not defined. But there are pleasant exceptions. For example, Vienna imperial armory chamber (or Arsenal), with the collections of which we have already met in some way. However, they are so vast that you can talk about them for a long time. In addition, the Arsenal compares favorably with other museums in that there are a lot of horse figures in it. It is unlikely to be an exaggeration to consider that there are more of them here than in all the others combined, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York! But, in addition to the horses in the arsenal itself, there are also horses with riders in the Ambras castle, its branch.
Armored riders from Ambras Castle, a branch of the Vienna Imperial Arsenal
It is clear that mainly horseman armor of the 16th-17th centuries has survived to our days, because then they began to be truly protected, that is, cataloged and properly stored. Nevertheless, even so late, in our opinion, the armor is insanely interesting, both from the point of view of history and its artistic features.
Set for the horseman and his horse Alexander Farnese (Vienna imperial arsenal)
The same headset shot in the Arsenal hall
Perhaps we will start here with this armor, which is interesting primarily because it is made in the antique style, the fashion of which spread in Europe under the influence of the ideas of the Renaissance. This is a complex knight's set for a rider and his horse, and very curious in that it can be used both as a ceremonial and a tournament for an equestrian fight (there is a guard for the left shoulder), and also for a foot tournament. The shield (it is visible behind the saddle) was used for representative trips and parades. The oval medallion of the shield shows the transfer of keys from the city of Babylon to Alexander the Great. This scene is surrounded by four medallions depicting Artemis of Ephesus.
The same headset, right view. Pay attention to the exceptionally lush decor of his lat
The owner of the armor was the Duke Alessandro (Alexander) Farnese, the Duke of Parma and Piacenza (1545 — 1592), and this is confirmed by the image of Artemis of Ephesus, whose famous Roman copy was an adornment of the antique collection of the Duke of Farnese. After the death of don Juan of Austria in 1578, it was Alessandro Farnese, the son of the illegitimate daughter of Emperor Charles V, who became governor and supreme commander of the Spanish forces in the Netherlands. In the same year, Archduke Ferdinand tried to buy armor and a portrait from him for his famous “arsenal of heroes,” and, apparently, this deal was successfully completed. The set was made in 1575 by the Milanese master Lucio Picchinino. Moreover, for its manufacture, forging, burnishing, polishing, gilding, silvering, inlaid with gold and silver were used, and their lining was made of leather, silk and velvet.
Set of Emperor Ferdinand I (1503 - 1564) by Colman Helmschmid (1471 - 1532 in Augsburg). Made in the style of the Augsburg master Daniel Hopfer
This armor was intended "for the field and for the tournament" and was richly decorated. It was made in the year 1526. He had a blue burnished gilding, as well as engraved mythical creatures, volutes and flowers. The side bumps of the horse’s breastplate adorn the faces of the lions. The set is interesting in that the front bow of the saddle is even grooved. The breastplate consists of two parts, which is not typical for this time. Moreover, the upper part is corrugated, and the lower one is smooth. The Grandard with a high flap on the left is removable, as well as the pointed nosed buff - the forerunner. Noteworthy is the armrest of intersecting metal strips. This design does not play any special protective role, but it looks impressive as a tribute to tradition. The set was in the Ambras castle, where it was exhibited in the "hall of armor of heroes", where it took the place of the armor of King Ruprecht I (1352 — 1410). Today is exhibited in the Vienna Arsenal in the hall №3. Materials: corrugated metal, brass, gold casting, leather.
"Roman armor" of Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol, son of Ferdinand I (1529 - 1595). The work of the master Giovanni Paolo Negroly (1530 — 1561, Milan). Made around 1545-1550.
Original chain armor for the rider and his horse, made of two types of rings: iron and yellow in color - from brass. These rings are woven into a pattern and form the heraldic symbols of the Archduke of Austria. The shoulders and bourguignot's open helmet are decorated in the shape of muzzles of fantastic animals, just like the chancedron's hammered horse forehead. Kneecaps are made in the form of lion heads. And it’s funny that the chanfron’s fantastic head eats a leaf, but this is not a leaf of an ordinary plant. The head devours a sheet of acanthus, symbolizing antiquity, which only emphasizes the ancient character of this supposedly "Roman armor" - a typical technique of masters of the Mannerism era of the XVI - the first third of the XVII century.
"Milan Armor" of Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol, son of Ferdinand I (1529 — 1595)
Antique armor played an important role in the court life of the 16th century, as can be seen from the large quantity of this equipment at the disposal of Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol. The fact is that armor, like clothes, was influenced by fashion. And fashion in the second half of the XVI century has changed a lot. In the design of armor, scenes from mythology have become fashionable. Since the accounts for these armor have been preserved, we not only know well about their price in 2400, but also know which masters worked on this work of art. On their own, if we ignore their high artistic merit, this “armor” is nothing but the armor of a high-ranking cavalry officer who had a mace as a military commander sign (pinned to the saddle), a sword and a “panther technician” to the left under the saddle ( sword-finisher), which served to pierce enemy armor. And it was also used as a spear against infantrymen to confidently get those who fell to the ground. A bourguignot-style helmet is adorned with a serrated-winged dragon figure. Under the cuirass, chain mail with long sleeves and plate gloves is worn. The large round shield is divided into three zones by two concentric circles. In the center is a point on a rosette of leaves. In the middle zone are four oval medallions, inside of which are Judith and Holofernes, David and Goliath, Samson and Delilah, Heracles and Kakusa. Along the outer edge there are “trophies” and medallions with the image of Mark Curtius, sleeping Hercules, Manlius Torquatus and the Gaul, as well as Cleopatra’s suicide scene. The headset was made around the year 1559. Master: Giovanni Battista, nicknamed "Panzeri". The artist who drew all the figures decorating the armor is Marco Antonio Fava. Materials: hammered blue-burned iron, polished, gilded and silver plated. Leather trim, light blue and black silk, red woolen fabric.
With the spread of firearms, there was a demand for light cavalry, with a minimum of armor. Why? Yes, simply because the same cavalry of pistol guns or Reitars cost the treasury very expensive, but it was very difficult for them to kill each other. Often had to shoot pistols literally point blank, seeing the whites of the enemy’s eyes! “Both the colonels and the strelets’ heads need to know very well the measure of how to order to burn, and what is scorched in twenty fathoms, and that the worst timid shooting is, at least, decent in ten fathoms, and a direct measure in five and three fathoms, and shoot it is necessary at all, but not by air (by air), ”wrote the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, nicknamed the Quietest in 1660, which was then a universal phenomenon. Since in those years the length of the fathom was 2,16 m, the three fathoms were 6,5 m. All this could be done with success, however, and the light cavalry, it only maneuvered on the battlefield much faster than the heavy reytarskaya, was more maneuverable, and It was much cheaper. Of the traditional armaments, the Hungarian light cavalry, for example, left itself with only short chain mail, oriental (Turkish-style) burginoth helmets, Hungarian tarch-type shields, and rather long light spears equally suitable for throwing and pricking. A characteristic feature of the horse harness of the Turkish and Hungarian riders was the neck-mounted horse pendant Cheleng. In the Vienna arsenal there is one such pendant made of gilded silver, decorated with boar fangs, with a brush of six yaks. But ... women’s hair was also used for this jewelry, especially cut off from the heads of European blonde women!
In Hall No. 6, the armor of such a light rider is also on display, also belonging to Archduke Ferdinand II, son of Ferdinand I (1529 — 1595), made in the workshop of Carremolo Modron (1498 — 1543, Mantova)
It is believed that this is nothing more than a model of equipment of the Hungarian hussar, made by order of the emperor for the 1557 carnival of the year in Prague. On it, Archduke Ferdinand II organized a tournament in which one party was dressed in the costumes of Christian knights and Hungarians, and the other in Moors and Turks. The fact that Christian soldiers used jewelry of Turkish origin (the same Cheleng, for example) is not surprising, since it was a time when carrying the weapons of such an enemy as the Turks, including horse jewelry, was not only fashionable, but also testified to considerable courage and the military skill of their owner, since they could be obtained only as a trophy.
With such "armor" a specific shield was used, called the "Hungarian". One such shield, called "Constance," was made for the wedding of Archduke Ferdinand II with Anna Katerina Gonzaga in 1582. He is currently in the arsenal's storage room. It is known that it was made in Innsbruck. Wooden shield with metal shackles, jewelry made of silver threads, gold leaf, parrot feathers. The drawing is done in watercolor. Inside are leather belts.
Shield "Constance"
Naturally, in the 16th century, purely knightly armor more and more acquired the functions of representative "clothing", that is, they were used on the battlefield, but mainly commanders, and therefore they were also richly decorated. Then - the functions of court clothes, a demonstration of their power through a demonstration of expensive and "modern" armor, and, finally, armor for participation in tournaments. That's why it was during this era that headsets became so popular. It turned out that even an expensive headset as a whole was cheaper than, say, five separate sets of armor.
Armor "Rose Petals". The most interesting thing is that it is a headset and ... not a headset at the same time. Headset, because all four of these armors consist of interchangeable parts with the same design. And not headsets, because these are four different armor, but with the same design
It happened so that in 1571, Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria was supposed to marry the Bavarian princess Mary. This marriage, which represented a kind of union of the two Catholic powers in southern Germany against the Protestant German princes, was very important for the Austrian court. No costs were considered excessive. The main thing was to pay tribute to this event, since it meant the rallying of the forces of the counter-reformation. Therefore, one should not be surprised that a whole series of ceremonial armor was created for the emperor and the princes, especially for this event. Festivals and tournaments were supposed to take place for several days. First they were to be held in Vienna, and then in Graz. Maximilian II for the planned tournaments, in general, already had a headset made by the master Wolfgang Grosshedel (1517 — 1562, Landshut). This headset consisted of twelve different parts that could be easily transformed according to the "modular principle" into combat, tournament and ceremonial armor. However, by the time of the marriage, this headset was already out of date. And then the emperor ordered the son of Wolfgang Franz to turn this armor set ... into four different armor! On the left in the photo is combat armor for spear fighting, the next tournament armor with a guard for the left side of the chest and reinforced armor for the arm. The next armor is the three-quarter spearman's armor. Finally, the very last armor on the right is a tournament with a bell skirt for foot combat.
The set of armor was called the “Rose Petal” because Franz Grosschedel used the image of a rose to decorate it. The workshop was very famous, the Grosshedell dynasty worked mainly for the demanding court of Madrid, the Spanish king Philip II, as well as for the Austrian court of the Habsburgs, as well as for the Wittelsbach court in Bavaria and the Elector of Saxony.
The armor is in the hall number 7. Belonged to Archduke Ferdinand II, son of Ferdinand I (1529 — 1595) Materials: polished iron, engraved ribbons with gilding and blackening on it, brass. Lining: leather, velvet
Interestingly, the dummies of horses in the Vienna Arsenal are made in different and often very lively poses ...
Armor in three quarters appeared at the beginning of the XVI century as a response to the spread of firearms among riders. Legs below the knees were now protected by hard leather boots. On the cuirass, the spear hook was most often absent. And even if a cuirass from old armor was used, it was simply removed, leaving holes from the screws. This armor appeared around 1520 of the year as a lighter type of rider's armor, and in which a bourguignot helmet was put on top of the closed helmet. Very often they were put on by infantry commanders who gave their commands while riding a horse, but at the same time, this light equipment allowed them to lead their soldiers on foot, if necessary. Konrad von Bemelberg was one of the most famous Landsknecht commanders of Emperor Charles V. The design of the armor cuirass is interesting. It depicts the Landsknecht on the right, kneeling in prayer, and it is possible that it is Bemelberg himself, and on the left is the crucified Christ, to whom the kneeling man addresses with prayer.
Armor of Konrad von Bemelberg (1494 — 1567). Made about 1535 — 1540.
Since in such armor it was necessary to fight not only on horseback, but also on foot, they are equipped with a metal codpiece - a piece of armor that is very interesting to individual visitors to our site. Its history is this: in the 15th century, chain mail leggings had a special front in front, called latz, while armor did not have a codpiece, since the rider was sitting in a metal-bound saddle, and everything that protruded between his legs, the saddle was good and protected! The edges of the gaiters formed a notch for greater comfort in the saddle. At the beginning of the 16th century, a “bag” of chain mail was still inside the cutout, and a fully developed metal codpiece appeared around the year 1520. At this time, he had the appearance of an iron cap connected to a cuirass with rivets or ribbons. The armor is located in Hall No. 3. Master-manufacturer: Wolfgang Grosschedel (1517 — 1562, Landshut). Etching was carried out by Ambrosius Gemlich (1527 — 1542, Munich and Landshut). Helmet by Valentin Siebenbürger (1531 — 1564). Material: polished iron with partial etching, gilding and blackening of the recesses.
To be continued ...
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Horsemen in museums. A little about each
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Knightly and non-knightly armor of the Vienna Imperial Arsenal
Armor of the "sunset era". Vienna imperial arsenal
One day at the imperial arsenal in Vienna
Naval Historical Museum of Venice. Excursion to the “Ship Hall”
Mistress Museum of the Lady of the Mediterranean
Many, many "iron guys." One day at the Army Museum in Paris
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