The ''Armor of Emperor Ferdinand I'' is a suit of

plate armor Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, ...

created by the

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

armorer Historically, an armourer is a person who makes personal armour, especially plate armour. In modern terms, an armourer is a member of a military or police force who works in an armoury and maintains and repairs small arms and weapons system ...

Kunz Lochner in 1549 for the future

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I ( es, Fernando I; 10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Hungary, and List of rulers of Croatia, Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1 ...

. One of several suits of armor made for the Emperor Ferdinand during the wars of

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

and conflict with the Ottomans, the etched but functional armor is thought by scholars to symbolize and document the role of the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

monarchs as warriors on Europe's literal and ideological battlefields.

Symbolism

The armor is dominated by etched symbolism of the Madonna and Child as

Woman of the Apocalypse The Woman of the Apocalypse (or the woman clothed with the sun, el, γυνὴ περιβεβλημένη τὸν ἥλιον; Latin: ) is a figure, traditionally believed to be the Virgin Mary, described in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelati ...

atop a

crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...

moon on the

breastplate A breastplate or chestplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status. A breastplate is sometimes worn by mythological beings as a distinctive item of clothing. It is ...

, echoing the design on an armor of his brother

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

at the

Royal Armoury of Madrid The Royal Armoury of Madrid or Real Armería de Madrid, is a collection that, among many other things, contains the personal arms of the Kings of Spain, and also houses military weapons, armours and diplomatic works of art like mixed tapestries, p ...

. On the backplate, a fire-steel (radiating sparks), a Burgundian emblem originated by

Philip the Good Philip III (french: Philippe le Bon; nl, Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonge ...

, sits at a

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman type. The word comes from the Middle French ''sautoir'', Medieval Latin ''saltatori ...

of crossed

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' twig'' usuall ...

es under Saints Peter and Paul in architectural settings. In function, it is a working piece of field armor (''feldküriß'' or ''feldharnisch'') intended for military use, rather than parade armor, and the etching technique allowed elaboration and complexity in its design, without diminishing the defensive capabilities of the piece. Ferdinand's then-status as

King of the Romans King of the Romans ( la, Rex Romanorum; german: König der Römer) was the title used by the king of Germany following his election by the princes from the reign of Henry II (1002–1024) onward. The title originally referred to any German k ...

(the heir apparent to his brother

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fr ...

) is symbolized by a crowned doubled-headed

Reichsadler The ' ("Imperial Eagle") is the heraldic eagle, derived from the Roman eagle standard, used by the Holy Roman Emperors and in modern coats of arms of Germany, including those of the Second German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (191 ...

eagle on the toe caps of the

sabaton A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's body armor that covers the foot. History Fourteenth and fifteenth century sabatons typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of the wearer's foot, following fashionable shoe shapes ...

s covering his feet. The armor is clearly stamped with the "N" mark for

and the city's half-eagle

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

, and also has the date "1549" included three times in the etched decoration. These and the fantastical figures, arranged in triple bands imitative of a Spanish doublet, the

scrollwork The scroll in art is an element of ornament and graphic design featuring spirals and rolling incomplete circle motifs, some of which resemble the edge-on view of a book or document in scroll form, though many types are plant-scrolls, which l ...

filled with tritons and other creatures, suggest Lochner as the armorer. File:Armor of Emperor Ferdinand I (1503–1564) MET DP-12881-009.jpg, Breastplate File:Armor of Emperor Ferdinand I (1503–1564) MET DP-12881-012.jpg, Backplate File:Armor of Emperor Ferdinand I (1503–1564) MET DP-12881-015.jpg, Sabaton

Provenance

The armor was acquired by the German collector Franz, Count of Erbach-Erbach in the 19th century (a non-original burgonet helmet was added about this time) and was then thought to be that of

Albert V, Duke of Bavaria Albert V (German: ''Albrecht V.'') (29 February 1528 – 24 October 1579) was Duke of Bavaria from 1550 until his death. He was born in Munich to William IV and Maria Jacobäa of Baden. Early life Albert was educated at Ingolstadt by Catholic ...

(the son-in-law of Ferdinand), kept by Franz and his heirs at Erbach Castle, and is currently in the collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. The identification with Ferdinand I was first made by the director of the armory at the

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal d ...

, on the basis of the wearer's slight build and relatively short height (no more than 5'7" or 170 cm), straight back, slim waist and long arms, the similarity to his other documented armors, and importantly the

eagle on the

s. When the identification was initially made with Albert V, it had been assumed it was made for him as a young man, as he gained weight in later life. Albert was also a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece, and the imperial insignia could be seen as representing his marriage to Ferdinand's daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor 16th-century House of Habsburg Western plate armour History of Nuremberg 1549 works Metalwork of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Individual suits of armour Arms and armor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Clothing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor

Symbolism

Provenance

See also

References