Field Armour

This armour is eloquent of the skill of Milanese fifteenth-century armourers. Commissioned around 1450 by Frederick I, Elector of the Palatine, it was produced by Tomaso Missaglia in collaboration with several other masters. In addition to Tommaso’s workshop mark and master’s mark, the armour was stamped with the marks of three other master-craftsmen – Antonio Missaglia, Innocenzo da Faerno, and Antonio Seroni. Such a division of labour was typical of Milan, then one of the leading centres of armour production in Europe. As armourers specialized in different parts of the harness – helmets, gauntlets, greaves, etc. – it was more efficient for them to collaborate. The homogenous appearance of this armour bears witness to the professionalism of the collaborating master-craftsmen.

Stylistically, we can date this armour to the mid-fifteenth century. Frederick presumably commissioned it for his accession in 1449. The marks of blows on the helmet show that he wore it in battle. However, some of the details of this harness do not conform to what one would expect of typical coeval Italian armour. For instance, the helmet is a grand basinet, a voluminous helmet with circular visor then popular in France but not in Italy. The shoulders are symmetrical and have besagews to protect the armpits. In ‘regular’ Italian armour, the right shoulder is smaller than the left, affording the wearer’s right arm (which wields the sword) additional mobility.

The armour includes stirrups that end in long tapered points, imitating the then fashionable poulaines popular mainly north of the Alps. This means the harness is export armour alla francese (in the French style), produced by Milanese armourers according to the requirements and tastes of their foreign client. They also produced armour in the German style (alla tedesca).