- All'antica style Burgonet -

All'antica style burgonet for Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol Made by Lucio Piccinino, Milan, c. 1560 Captured at the Rüstkammer, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden This parade burgonet and its matching round shield were made in Milan around 1560 for Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol (1529–1595). Ferdinand was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand I and one of the great collectors of the Renaissance. At Ambras Castle near Innsbruck he assembled a "Heroes' Armoury" of armour worn by famous commanders and princes. The helmet is made in the "all'antica" style, which imitated ancient Roman armour and was highly fashionable at 16th-century courts. The embossed figures of musicians on the skull show that such pieces were made for festivals, tournaments and ceremonial entries rather than for battle. Blued surfaces and inlays of gold, silver and silver beads originally gave the helmet a rich, colourful appearance. The matching shield shows the Judgement of Paris after an engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi. On stylistic grounds, the embossing is attributed to the Milanese armourer Lucio Piccinino. He came from a family of bladesmiths and was famous for iron reliefs of figures, animals and masks, and for gold and silver damascening. His best-known work is the parade garniture for Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma, in Vienna. Iron, forged, embossed, partly chiselled and blued, inlaid with gold, silver and silver beads; mercury-gilt brass rivet caps; leather. H 34 cm × W 23 cm × D 34 cm, 3.70 kg.