A codpiece is a triangular piece that attached to the front of men's hose, covering the fly. It may be held in place by ties or buttons. It was an important fashion item of European clothing during the 15th–16th centuries. In the modern era, similar clothing pieces are worn in the leather subculture, and in performance costumes, such as for rock and metal musicians. A similar device with rigid construction, an athletic cup, is used as protective gear for male athletes.
Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, especially in the context of the Hundred Years' War, from the coat of plates worn over mail suits during the 14th century.
The Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire, a hoop crown with a characteristic octagonal shape, was the coronation crown of the Holy Roman Emperor, probably from the late 10th century until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. The crown was used in the coronation of the King of the Romans, the title assumed by the Emperor-elect immediately after his election. It is now kept in the Imperial Treasury at the Hofburg in Vienna, Austria.
Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria was ruler of Further Austria and since 1564 Imperial count of Tirol. The son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, he was married to Philippine Welser in his first marriage. In his second marriage to Anna Juliana Gonzaga, he was the father of Anna of Tyrol, future Holy Roman Empress.
The eagle is used in heraldry as a charge, as a supporter, and as a crest. Heraldic eagles can be found throughout world history like in the Achaemenid Empire or in the present Republic of Indonesia. The European post-classical symbolism of the heraldic eagle is connected with the Roman Empire on one hand, and with Saint John the Evangelist on the other.
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, younger brother of Emperor Ferdinand III, was an Austrian soldier, administrator and patron of the arts.
Barding is body armour for war horses. The practice of armoring horses was first extensively developed in antiquity in the eastern kingdoms of Parthia and Pahlava. After the conquests of Alexander the Great it likely made its way into European military practices via the Seleucid Empire and later Byzantine Empire. Though its historical roots lie in antiquity in the regions of what was once the Persian Empire, barded horses have become a symbol of the late European Middle Ages chivalry and the era of knights.
Wenzel Jamnitzer was a Northern Mannerist goldsmith, artist, and printmaker in etching, who worked in Nuremberg. He was the best known German goldsmith of his era, and court goldsmith to a succession of Holy Roman Emperors.
Maximilian armour is a modern term applied to the style of early 16th-century German plate armour associated with, and possibly first made for the Emperor Maximilian I. The armour is still white armour, made in plain steel, but it is decorated with many flutings that may also have played a role in deflecting the points and blades of assailants and increasing the structural strength of the plates. It is a transitional stage in the decoration of armour, after the plain steel surfaces of 15th-century armour and before the elaborate decoration and colouring with etching and other techniques of Renaissance armour. The armour is characterized by armets and close helmets with bellows visors; small fan-shaped narrow and parallel fluting—often covering most of the harness ; etching; work taken from woodcuts; sharply waisted cuirasses, and squared sabatons.
KunzLochner was an eminent master plate armourer, blacksmith and silversmith from Nuremberg, Germany, Holy Roman Empire. He was the son of a skillful armourer with the same name, and his two brothers Heinrich and Hans who were also skillful armourers and blacksmiths. In 1543, Lochner started working for the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, and the following year he began his service at the future Maximilian II as court armourer. Lochner's workshop produced some of the most magnificent plate armours made during the 16th-century Renaissance period for field warfare, tourney and ceremonial occasions. Lochner's patrons included royalty, knights and nobility from across Europe.
Filippo Negroli was an armourer from Milan. He was renowned as being extremely skilled, and may be considered the most famous armourer of all time. Working together with his younger brothers Giovan Battista and Francesco in the Negroli family workshop headed by their father Gian Giacomo Negroli, Filippo was specialized in repoussé of armour, whereas his brother Francesco was renowned for his damascening skills. Filippo's pieces are considered especially remarkable because they were wrought in steel, rather than the more-easily worked iron that was the traditionally assumed medium.
The Triumphal Arch is a 16th-century monumental woodcut print commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. The composite image was printed on 36 large sheets of paper from 195 separate wood blocks. At 295 × 357 centimetres (116 × 141 in), it is one of the largest prints ever produced and was intended to be pasted to walls in city halls or the palaces of princes. It is a part of a series of three huge prints created for Maximilian, the others being a Triumphal Procession which is led by a Large Triumphal Carriage ; only the Arch was completed in Maximilian's lifetime and distributed as propaganda, as he intended. Together, this series has been described by art historian Hyatt Mayor as "Maximilian's program of paper grandeur". They stand alongside two published biographical allegories in verse, the Theuerdank and Weisskunig, heavily illustrated with woodcuts.
The Helmschmied family of Augsburg were one of late medieval Europe's foremost families of armourers. Their name, sometimes also spelled Helmschmid, translates to helmet smith. The family's most prominent members were Lorenz Helmschmied, Kolman Helmschmied (1471–1532) and Desiderius Kolman Helmschmied (1513–1579).
Lorenz Helmschmied or "Helmschmid" was a German armourer and a member of the Helmschmied family of armourers from Augsburg. He was one of the primary armourers to the Habsburg court of the Holy Roman Emperors Frederick III and Maximilian I, and created some of the most technically innovative and artistically complex armours of the late-fifteenth and early-sixteenth centuries.
Equestrian Portrait of Charles V is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Titian. Created between April and September 1548 while Titian was at the imperial court of Augsburg, it is a tribute to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, following his victory in the April 1547 Battle of Mühlberg against the Protestant armies.
The Royal Armoury of Madrid or Real Armería de Madrid, is a collection that, among many other things, contains the personal arms of the Kings of Spain, and also houses military weapons, armours and diplomatic works of art like mixed tapestries, paintings and other works of art and trophies. Among the most notable parts of the collection are armor and full tools that Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Philip II used. It is considered, along with the Imperial Armory of Vienna, one of the best in the world.
Medusa is a c.1618 painting by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, showing the severed head of Medusa. The snakes in the painting have been attributed to Frans Snyders. Frans Snyders also helped Peter Paul Rubens with his work Prometheus Bound, where he painted the eagle portrayed in it. It is in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Another version is held in Moravian Gallery in Brno. Rubens was not originally attributed to the painting. Medusa was a popular iconographic symbol at the time due to the interest in Greek mythology by numerous Baroque artists such as Rubens and Caravaggio. The use of Medusa as a symbol has evolved over the course of centuries and has various interpretations of the iconographic meaning, with Rubens' painting based on an interpretation of the Greek mythological story of Medusa.
The Parade Armour of Henry II of France, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is believed to date from c 1553–55 and its decoration is attributed to the French goldsmith and engraver Étienne Delaune. Designed for use in pageantry, the armour was fashioned of gold, silver and steel and with leather and red velvet trimmings. It was created for Henry II of France as ceremonial wear; the figures embossed on the breastplate and back are intended to reflect his military achievements.
Tibetan culture has a long history of producing armor for military and ceremonial use. Tibetan armor came in many forms, and was produced into the 20th century due to the isolation of the Tibetan Plateau.
Süleyman the Magnificent's Venetian helmet was an elaborate headpiece designed to project the sultan's power in the context of the Ottoman–Habsburg rivalry. It was acquired by the sultan in 1532. The rivalry with the Habsburg monarchy was one of the most significant political and military relationships addressed by the sultan during his reign. In addition to military campaigns, Süleyman also took political and diplomatic steps in order to advance the Ottoman position, promoting trade with European powers and purchasing expensive jewels such as the helmet. The key figures behind the purchase of the helmet were Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha and his chief advisors, İskender Çelebi, the chief treasurer, and Alvise Gritti, a powerful jewellery merchant based in the Ottoman capital Konstantinyye, or Istanbul, as it was renamed in 1930.
