Helmet (burgonet) in the Form of a Dolphin Mask
1540/1545
Armorer, Milanese, active 1525/1565
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West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G19
Artwork overview
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Medium
iron or steel, repoussé, embossed, and chiseled
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Credit Line
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Dimensions
overall: 29.5 x 20.9 x 31.6 cm (11 5/8 x 8 1/4 x 12 7/16 in.)
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Accession
1942.9.355
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Allegedly Rome, before 1850.[1] more probably identical with the helmet with a dolphin mask repeatedly exhibited in London.[2] (George Robins, London), 1833.[3] Sir Adam Hay, Bart. [1795-1867],[4] by 1862, as "Paolo di Negroli;" by inheritance to his great-grandson, Sir Duncan E. Hay, Bart., by 1909 until after 1911.[5] (Samuel J. Whawell, Eastbourne), by 26 March 1913.[6] (Partridge [probably Frank Partridge and Sons, London]), by 1916;[7] purchased by Joseph E. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, after 12 July 1916,[8] as "Paolo di Negroli," mid-sixteenth century; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, after purchase by funds of the Estate; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] Guy Francis Laking, A Record of European Armour and Arms, 5 vols., London, 1920-1921: 4(1921):150, as acquired there by Sir Adam Hay.
[2] Catalogue of a Most Splendid and Instructive Collection of Antient[sic] Armour..., Exh. cat., Oplotheca, London, 1816-1817: no. 90; Catalogue of the Splendid Collection of Antient[sic] Armour..., Exh. cat., Gothic Hall, Pall Mall, London, 1820: no. 114; Exh. cat., Royal Armoury, Haymarket, London, n.d. [c. 1821]: no. 50.
[3] Francis Henry Cripps-Day, A Record of Armour Sales 1881-1924 (London, 1925): 1. Claude Blair, The James A. De Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor: Arms, Armour and Base-Metalwork, London and Fribourg, 1974: 46-52, traced in detail the nineteenth-century provenance of the dolphin helmet in question. Stuart Pyhrr provided the reference. Exh. cat. London 1816-1917: no. 90, said of the dolphin helmet, "said to have belonged to Francis I...It appears to be the design of Lionardo [sic] Da Vinci and the execution of Benvenuto Celini [sic]." This opinion carried over into A Catalogue of a Magnificent and Unique Collection of Ancient Armor...sold by Mr. George Robins...at Lang's Shooting Gallery, 7 Haymarket, on Monday the 10th of June and the following Day [sale cat., George Robins] (London, 1833), 26, no. 157. James Mann, Wallace Collection Catalogues: European Arms and Armour, 2 vols., London, 1962: 1:111, first suggested the Washington burgonet might be identical with the dolphin-faced helmet in question.
[4] On Sir Adam Hay and the disposition of his armor holdings, see Blair 1974, 46-52. Hay lent the helmet to the exhibition at South Kensington, 1862, 365, no. 4685.
[5] Lent by Sir Duncan to an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1909-1911.
[6] Laking 1920-1921, 4:145; Balir 1974, 52; Bashford Dean to William Riggs, 26 March 1913; Whawell to Dean, 23 February 1916, listing a group of objects, including the helmet, collected for shipment to America; letters on file at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, copies in NGA curatorial files.
[7] A Widener collection card in NGA curatorial files says only that the helmet was bought from "Partridge" in 1916. W.M. Bunford of Partridge Fine Arts, Ltd., London, confirmed that Joseph Widener was a client of Frank Partridge and Sons, Ltd., of London, and that the American branch of the firm was not started until well after 1916 (letter to Alison Luchs, 18 August 1986). Detailed Partridge records relevant to the helmet have not survived.
[8] Widener to Dean, 12 July 1916, seeking Dean's advice, on file at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, copy in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1816
Probably Catalogue of a Most Splendid and Instructive Collection of Ancient Armour ..., Oplotheca, London, 1816-1817, no. 90.
1818
Catalogue of the Splendid Collection of Ancient Armour ..., Gothic Hall, Pall Mall, London, 1818, no. 108, (1819, 1820), no. 114.
1821
Probably Royal Armoury, Haymarket, London, n.d. [c.1821], no. 50.
1862
Special Exhibition of Works of Art of the Medieval, Renaissance, and More Recent Periods on Loan at the South Kensington Museum ..., South Kensington Museum, London, 1862, 365, no. 4685.
1909
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1909-1911.
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. 82, repro.
1988
The Sforza Court: Milan in the Renaissance 1450-1535, University of Texas, Austin; University of California, Berkeley; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 1988-1989, 17, 25, no. 80, repro. 24.
1994
Fanciful Flourishes: Ornament in European Graphic Art and Related Objects, 1300-1800, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994, brochure, no. 23, repro.
1998
Heroic Armor of the Italian Renaissance: Filippo Negroli and his Contemporaries, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1998-1999, no. 44, repro., as Burgonet.
2010
Arcimboldo, 1526-1593: Nature and Fantasy, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2010 - 2011, no. 41.
Bibliography
1816
Probably Catalogue of a Most Splendid and Instructive Collection of Ancient Armour .... Exh. cat. Oplotheca, London, 1816-1817: no. 90.
1818
Catalogue of the Splendid Collection of Ancient Armour .... Exh. cat. Gothic Hall, Pall Mall, London, 1818: no. 108; (1819, 1820): no. 114.
1862
South Kensington 1862, 365, 4685.
1920
Laking, Guy Francis. A Record of European Armour and Arms. 5 vols. London, 1920-1922, 3 (1920): 293; 4 (1921): 150-151, fig. 1233.
1923
Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 18 (October 1923): 236.
1924
Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 19 (July 1924): 162-163.
1931
"Fine Display of Rare Armor Held at Metropolitan." Art News 29 (August 1931): 4, 9, 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.
1942
Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 15, as Milanese 16th Century (Paolo di Negroli).
1953
Thomas, Bruno, and Ortwin Gamber. "L'arte Milanese dell' Armatura." Storia di Milano. 16 vols and index. Milan, 1953-1966: 11(1958):764.
1962
Mann, James. Wallace Collection Catalogues; European Arms and Armour. 2 vols. London, 1962: 1:111.
1974
Blair, Claude. The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Arms, Armour and Base-Metalwork. London and Fribourg, 1974: 46-52.
1977
Thomas, Bruno. Gesammelte Schriften zur historischen Waffenkunde. 2 vols. Graz, 1977: 2:1036.
1983
Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 144, repro.
1987
Scalini, Mario. Armature all'erocia dei Negroli. Florence, 1987: 34, fig. 24, 40, n. 30, 44.
1988
The Sforza Court: Milan in the Renaissance 1450-1535. Exh. cat. Univ. of Texas, Austin; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 1988-1989: 17, 25, no. 80, repro. 24.
2000
National Gallery of Art Special Issue. Connaissance des Arts. Paris, 2000:62.
Wikidata ID
Q62131117