The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Partial Suit of Armor in Maximilian Style

Partial Suit of Armor in Maximilian Style

c. 1525
steel
Overall: 28.7 x 30.4 x 21.7 cm (11 5/16 x 11 15/16 x 8 9/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1714
Location: 210A Armor Court

Did You Know?

The style's name is derived from Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, during whose reign this was popular.

Description

This fluted armor was visually striking in natural sunlight, which created a dazzling effect as it reflected off the polished, rippling steel. The flutings may have originated as a means of imitating the pleatings of male costume of the day. It became apparent, however, that the flutings were also a strengthening device, similar to corrugated metal. This enabled the armorer to use plates of thinner—and therefore lighter—steel. Such suits of armor demanded time-consuming and highly precise work from the armorer, which in turn quickly drove the production costs high enough that the fashion disappeared by 1540.
  • Krzysztof Radziwiłł (1543-1603), Niasviž Castle, Belarus (formally Poland)
    ?-1916
    Charles Alexander, Baron de Cosson (1843-1929), England
    Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Charles Alexander, Baron de Cosson (1843-1929). Cat. No. cat. 164
    Manchester City Art Gallery. Exhibition of the Royal House of Tudor. [Manchester]: [Corporation of Manchester art gallery], 1897.
    Catalogue of Arms and Armour. Vol. 3, 16th century. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], [1900-1915]. Mentioned and Reproduced: No. (164) 168; No. (165) 169; archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, John Long Severance, Elizabeth Huntington De Witt Severance, and Helen Ives Gilchrist. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: The Cleveland museum of art, 1924. p. 22, no. A2, pl. II archive.org
    Finckh, Alice H. "Medieval Knights in Cleveland," The American-German Review (Feb. 1948). p. 10
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 36 no. 10, December 1996 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 9 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. Reproduced: P. 70; Mentioned: P. 162, cat. no. 2
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned: P 182, cat. no. 2
    Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. München: Hirmer, 2007. pp. 70, 162; cat. no. 2
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 292-293, no. 111
  • Exhibition of the Royal House of Tudor, Manchester Art Gallery (1897).
    35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).
  • {{cite web|title=Partial Suit of Armor in Maximilian Style|url=false|author=|year=c. 1525|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1714