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Probably Milanese 16th Century

"The Morosini Helmet" (visored burgonet), probably 1550/1560

West Building, Ground Floor - Gallery 19

Medium

repoussé and embossed iron or steel, with gilding and silvering

Dimensions

overall: 30.5 x 23.3 x 35.4 cm (12 x 9 3/16 x 13 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.356

Artists / Makers

Milanese 16th Century (armorer)

Image Use

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Inscription

at opposite ends of small cartouche on front of skull above visor: A.P.

Provenance

Morosini family, Venice, before 1894; Countess Lauredana [sic] Gatterburg-Morosini [d. 1884]; (sale, directed by Jules Sambon and Charles Mannheim, Venice, Palazzo Morosini, 15-22 May 1894, no. 1); (Goldschmidt, Paris), until before 1913;[1] Sigismond Bardac, Paris, before 1913, as Venetian, sixteenth century;[2] (Arnold Seligmann et Cie, Paris), in 1913; purchased 21 February 1914, probably from Seligmann, by Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[3] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park; gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] Bashford Dean, "The Casque of the Morosoni." Art in America 2 (April 1914): 250-251: "purchased, if my memory is right, by a syndicate of dealers represented by Goldschmidt of Paris, who outbid Mr. William H. Riggs. Thereafter Goldschmidt had the helmet at his place for some time."

[2] Henri Leman, Collection Sigismond Bardac, Paris, 1913, no. 48.

[3] Dean 1914, 250, and NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Bardac, Sigismond
Gatterburg-Morosini, Loredana, Countess
Goldschmidt, Léopold
Morosini family
Seligmann & Cie., Arnold
Widener, Joseph E.
Widener, Peter Arrell Brown

Exhibition History

1923: Loan for display with permanent collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1923, no catalogue.

1924: Helmets: A Loan Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1924, no catalogue.

1931: Loan Exhibition of European Arms and Armor, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1931, no. 83, repro., as casque à l'antique, Italian, 1550.

1998: Heroic Armor of the Italian Renaissance: Filippo Negroli and his Contemporaries, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1998-1999, no. 67, repro. as Visored Burgonet by Master AP.

Bibliography

1913: Bapst, Germain. The Helmet of the Morosinis (also published as Le casque des Morosini). [Paris? n.d.; cited by Leman 1913].

1913: Leman, Henri. Collection Sigismond Bardac. Paris, 1913: no. 48, repro.

1914: Dean, Bashford. "The Casque of the Morosini." Art in America 2 (April 1914): 250-254, repro. 251.

1920: Laking, Guy Francis. A Record of European Armour and Arms. 5 vols. London, 1920-1922: 4 (1921): 154-157, figs. 1236a-c.

1923: Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 18 (October 1923): 227, 236.

1923: Dean, Bashford. "A Lion-Headed Hemlet." Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 18 (October 1923): 227, n. 1.

1924: Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 19 (July 1924): 162-163.

1925: Cripps-Day, Francis Henry. A Record of Armour Sales 1881-1924. London, 1925: 46.

1931: "Fine Display of Rare Armor Held at Metropolitan." Art News 29 (August 1931): 9.

1931: Loan Exhibition of European Arms and Armour. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1931: 27, 28, no. 83, repro.

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 73, as Venetian (Paolo Rizzo), middle of sixteenth century.

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 15, as Venetian 16th Century (Paolo Rizzo).

1953: Thomas, Bruno, and Ortwin Gamber. "L'arte Milanese dell'Armatura." Storia de Milano. 16 vols. and index. Milan, 1953-1966: 11(1958):834, as "borgognotta del Negroli."

1977: Thomas, Bruno. Gesammelte Schriften zur historischen Waffenkunde. 2 vols. Graz, 1977: 2:1092, "Sturmhaube des Negroli".

1983: Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 144, as north Italian, second half of sixteenth century.