About the Artwork
An inventory from 1631 describes this armor as “having the color of sweet-smelling violets.” After forming and polishing, an armorer carefully heated the steel to achieve a deep purple hue. Although darkened with age, this color still contrasts vibrantly with the engraved and gilt foliage that scrolls across the fields of purple metal, bordered by sleek, linear sections of bright steel. A team of makers created this armor and a matching shield, now in the National Museum of Bargello in Florence, for Cosimo II de’ Medici (1590 – 1621) when he was still an adolescent. Cosimo, future Grand Duke of Tuscany, wore the armor for tournaments on foot in which teams or pairs of young contestants faced each other, sometimes across a waist-high barrier. The front of the visor and face defense bear the marks of a blunted tournament sword.
Tournament Armor of Cosimo II de ‘Medici
ca. 1605
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Italian
Italian
Steel, engraved, heat-patinated, and gilt, velvet (modern)
Overall: 30 1/2 × 23 3/4 × 13 1/2 inches (77.5 × 60.3 × 34.3 cm) Overall (Pedestal): 36 3/8 × 17 3/4 × 14 1/2 inches (92.4 × 45.1 × 36.8 cm) Overall (Top base): 5 1/2 × 9 1/2 × 8 3/4 inches (14 × 24.1 × 22.2 cm)
Arms and Armor
European Sculpture and Dec Arts
Gift of William Randolph Hearst Foundation
53.200
This work is in the public domain.
Markings
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Provenance
Made for Duke Cosimo II [1590-1621] (Florence, Italy)
1621-1737, by descent through Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany (Florence, Italy)
by 1808, Count Franz of Erbach-Erbach [1754-1823] (Odenwald, Hessen, Germany)
1925, William Randolph Hearst (New York, New York, USA)
1951, by bequest to the William Randolph Hearst Foundation (New York, New York, USA)
1953-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Robinson, F.W. "A Gift of Arms and Armor from the Collection of William Randolph Hearst." Bulletin of the DIA 33, no. 1 (1953-1954): pp. 1-5.
Schedelmann, H. "Ein Rückblick auf den Waffenmarkt des letzten halben Jahrhunderts." Waffen-und Kostümkunde 15, no. 1 (1973): pp. 25-35 (ill.).
Boccia, L. "Arms and Armor from the Medici Court." Bulletin of the DIA 61, nos. 1-2 (Summer 1983): pp. 58-64 (figs. 1, 4-6) (ill.).
100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1985, p. 16 (fig. 9).
Gamber, Ortwin. "Der Turnierharnisch zur Zeit Koenig Maximilians I. und das Thunsche Skizzenbuch," Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, vol. 53 (n.f. 17), 1957, pp. 33-70.
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Italian, Tournament Armor of Cosimo II de ‘Medici, ca. 1605, steel, engraved, heat-patinated, and gilt, velvet (modern). Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of William Randolph Hearst Foundation, 53.200.
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