Barbut

between 1450 and 1460

Italian , Artist Possibly Master Christoforo , Artist

Not On View

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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Audio Transcript

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About the Artwork

This helmet’s distinctive form, which fits tightly around the face and silhouettes the wearer’s eyes, nose, and mouth, identifies it as a barbut. Rivet holes along the rough outline of its Y-shaped facial opening reveal that it once had a streamlined steel border. Popular during the mid-1400s, the barbut style strongly echoes ancient Greek helmets, demonstrating that Italian armorers shared other Renaissance artists’ interest in the classical past.
Made in Milan and signed with marks associated with a ""Master Christoforo"" (possibly Christoforo dei Seroni), the barbut also bears a faint lion of Saint Mark on its right cheek, indicating that it was once part of the Republic of Venice's city arsenal.

Title Barbut

Artwork Date between 1450 and 1460

Makers (Artist) Italian (Artist) Master Christoforo

Medium Steel

Dimensions Overall: 10 1/4 × 7 5/8 × 9 11/16 inches (26 × 19.4 × 24.6 cm)

Classification Arms and Armor

Department European Sculpture and Dec Arts

Credit Gift of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 53.204

Markings

Marks stamped on the back of the barbute: armorer's mark "XPO," probably refers to a Christoforo stamped on left cheek: remnants of the Venetian arsenal mark (half lion with an open book)

Provenance

By 1939, William Randolph Hearst [1863-1951] (New York, New York, USA);
1951, bequeathed to the William Randolph Hearst Foundation (New York, New York, USA);
1953-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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Published References

Robinson, Francis W. "A Gift of Arms and Armor from the Collection of William Randolph Hearst," Bulletin of the DIA, vol. 33, no. 1, 1953-54, pp. 1-5

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Italian; possibly Master Christoforo, Barbut, between 1450 and 1460, steel. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, 53.204.