Spanish Arms and Armour: Being a Historical and Descriptive Account of the Royal Armoury of MadridCalvert, Albert Frederick
History
Spanish Arms and Armour: Being a Historical and Descriptive Account of the Royal Armoury of Madrid
Calvert, Albert Frederick
Arms and armor -- Spain; Real Armería de Madrid
The superb shield (plate 143A), screwed to the over-breastplate, bears
the signature of Daniel Hopfer, and the date 1536. Its surface is
divided into twenty-eight compartments of different sizes, in each of
which are engraved groups of nymphs, satyrs, amorini, winged horses,
griffins, and other fanciful creations on a gold ground. The groups are
all different. Some of the female figures appear to have been
intentionally made grotesque. The whole design reminds one of Albrecht
Durer’s school and the German Renaissance.
The beautiful burgonet or helmet (A59--plate 101), shaped like a
dolphin’s head, was made in the workshops of Colman, and almost
certainly designed by Daniel Hopfer. The scales are damascened on a
black ground, and the visor is formed by the snout above the open jaw.
We come now to the harness made for Charles V. at Augsburg about 1521,
and distributed like the last suit among three figures. It presents no
very interesting points of difference from the armour just described
(plate 26). The barding of the horse (A65) is exquisitely engraved with
fanciful figures, in which we recognise the hand of Daniel Hopfer. The
armet of the third figure (A75--plate 102) is of the shape already shown
at A19. The reinforcing piece over the crown is cut to resemble an
eagle, and bears such devices as the Golden Fleece and Pillars of
Hercules, and the motto “Plus Oultre.” It has also the most complete set
of reinforcing pieces in the Armoury. These are shown on plate 97.
The harness numbered A93-107 is the third of the suits decorated with
vertical bands and the second with lamboys made for Charles by Colman
Helmschmied. The Conde de Valencia fixes its date at 1526, and has
elicited from various archives the following interesting historical
details concerning it:
“So long as the young Prince Charles resided in Flanders under the
tutelage of his grandfather, the Emperor Maximilian I., it would be easy
for the armourer Colman Helmschmied to take and certify personally his
measurements, without neglecting the large clientèle that came to his
workshops; but when his patron was obliged to go to Spain, he wished,
and expressed this wish through his agents, that the armourer should
remove to Toledo. Colman demurred, alleging that he was fully occupied,
and from this it has been inferred that he never crossed the Pyrenees.
We, more fortunately, are able to assert that the celebrated artificer,
at last obeying the express command of his Sovereign, went to Toledo in
December, 1525, and returned to Germany the following month.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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