Halbharnisch

Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba, was a brilliant Spanish general and statesman. He served Emperor Charles V and his son Philip II, King of Spain as governor of Milan (1555/56), viceroy of Naples (1556–58), governor of the Spanish Netherlands (1567–73), and viceroy of Portugal (1580–82). Alba was infamous for his brutal efforts to suppress the Protestant Dutch Revolt during his tenure as governor of the Spanish Netherlands. His merciless persecution of the rebels as heretics and traitors and the venality of his troops during the capture of Dutch cities (for instance, the 1572 Massacre of Naarden) is reflected in his soubriquet ‘Iron Duke’. He was, however, ultimately unable to suppress the uprising, and the immense costs of his campaigns led to him being recalled in 1573.

With the help of Hans of Khevenhüller, the imperial ambassador to Spain, this armour of the Duke of Alba was gifted to Archduke Ferdinand II for the collection he was forming at Ambras Castle near Innsbruck. In December 1576, Alba himself wrote to Ferdinand that he had ‘worn this armour on his body long ago during the German War’ (so wir jn lang verschinen jaren in der teutschen kriegs expedition und vhede an unserm leib gefuert), that is, in 1546/47 during the war against the Schmalkaldic League. The armour is decorated with bands of gilt and etched dots. Note the duke kneeling before a crucifix on the breastplate. On the backplate the armour shows a depiction of Saint Barbara with her attribute, the tower.

The armour was once part of a garniture that also included a field armour. Two portraits by Antonis Mor have survived that show the duke wearing parts of this garniture – one now in New York (The Hispanic Society of America) and the other in Brussels (Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts). A copy from the later sixteenth century is in the Royal Armouries in Leeds, England.