Leichter Feldküriss

Konrad of Boyneburg, also known as Konrad of Bemelberg, from 1554 Baron of the Holy Roman Empire, was a soldier all his life and saw action in numerous campaigns. Most of his great victories (and defeats) were in the service of the Habsburgs. For instance, in 1525 he fought in the Battle of Pavia for Emperor Charles V, and in 1557 in the Battle of St Quentin for King Philip II of Spain, both decisive Habsburg victories over France. But Boyneburg was also involved in the infamous Sack of Rome, the pillaging of the Eternal City by mutinous imperial troops in 1527, during the War of the League of Cognac.

Boyneburg commissioned this light field cuirass a decade or so after the Sack of Rome. It has survived intact, except for the now lost gauntlets, and is a typical example of a type of light armour for cavalrymen common during Boyneburg’s lifetime. The close helmet has been replaced by a burgonet and the cuisses extend only to the knees, allowing the general to lead his men both on horse and an foot.

The armour was produced by Wolfgang Grossschedel, an armourer from Landshut in Bavaria. We can attribute the etched decoration to Ambrosius Gemlich, whose monogram, AG, is visible on the breastplate below the two medallions featuring heads of classical heroes. The breastplate is decorated with a large picture of a Landsknecht keeling at the foot of a crucifix, framed by the inscription HILF. HER. AM. KREICZ (‘Help, Lord on the Cross’).

A posthumous portrait by Petrus Dorisy of Boyneburg wearing this armour (dated 1582) is also now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna (Picture Gallery, inv. 3849).

The armour was in the Armoury of Heroes at Ambras Castle near Innsbruck. In the 1596 inventory it is described as: ‘Conrad of Bemelberg. A white halfharness with gilt etched lines together with its burgonet’ (Conrad von Bemelberg. Ain weisz halbs harnisch mit vergulten geeczten strichen sambt seiner sturmhauben).