Pair of Vambraces (Arm Defenses) from a Costume Armor

Pair of Vambraces (Arm Defenses) from a Costume Armor

Kolman Helmschmid

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This armor reproduces in steel the extravagant puffed and slashed costume of the German Landsknechte (mercenary infantry troops). The matching pieces are preserved in the Musée de l'Armée, Paris. Coming from the Radziwill armory in Nesvizh in present-day Belarus, this armor may have been made for Jerzy Herkules Radziwill (1480–1541), a powerful Polish nobleman.

Arms and Armor

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pair of Vambraces (Arm Defenses) from a Costume ArmorPair of Vambraces (Arm Defenses) from a Costume ArmorPair of Vambraces (Arm Defenses) from a Costume ArmorPair of Vambraces (Arm Defenses) from a Costume ArmorPair of Vambraces (Arm Defenses) from a Costume Armor

The principal goals of the Arms and Armor Department are to collect, preserve, research, publish, and exhibit distinguished examples representing the art of the armorer, swordsmith, and gunmaker. Arms and armor have been a vital part of virtually all cultures for thousands of years, pivotal not only in conquest and defense, but also in court pageantry and ceremonial events. Throughout time the best armor and weapons have represented the highest artistic and technical capabilities of the society and period in which they were made, forming a unique aspect of both art history and material culture.