Page 130 - El arte del poder

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Burgonet and shield of Philip II
Northern Italy, c. 1560-1565
Gold- and silver- damascened steel, fabric
[30] Burgonet: height 37.8 cm; width 23.5 cm; depth 40 cm; weight 2250 g
[31] Shield: diameter 59 cm; height 8 cm; weight 4280 g Patrimonio Nacional. Madrid, Real Armería, cat. D.7 and D.8
bibliography: Martínez del Romero 1849, pp. 37, 184, nos. 913, 2462; Valencia de Don Juan 1898, p. 138, nos. D.7 and D.8; Godoy 2003, pp. 184-187, 449-450, no. 40
As in other artworks, the myths of Antiquity were a recurring theme in the decoration of Renaissance parade arms, and motifs relating to ancient wars were widely used. This parade set, which probably belonged to King Philip II, displays the main episodes in the Trojan War between Greeks and Trojans. The Trial of Paris is depicted on the right side of the burgonet. The myth tells how Eris, goddess of Discord, threw a golden apple among the gods to be given to the most beautiful of three goddesses: Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite. Zeus entrusted Paris to settle the quarrel, and each of the goddesses attempted to sway him by offering a favor. Hera offered him Asia, Athena victory in war, and Aphrodite the love of Helen, the wife of Menelaus of Sparta, considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris decided that Aphrodite was the loveliest of the goddesses. Following her advice, he arrived in Sparta, where he seduced and carried off Helen, an episode depicted on the shield. After the abduction—whether or not she went willingly—the two lovers traveled through Asia before returning to Troy, Paris’s homeland. The abduction triggered the war between Greece and Troy. One of the best known episodes was Ulysses’ stratagem of building a huge wooden horse and
leaving it outside the city. The left side of the burgonet depicts the moment when the Trojans tear down part of the city wall to drag the horse inside. There are further references to the themes of love and war conveyed by these episodes on the front and nape of the burgonet in the form of medallions representing Mars and Venus.
The border of the shield features four busts, three of them belonging to Gaius Mucius Scaevola, Marcus Curtius, and Horatius Cocles, legendary heroes of Roman history associated by their deeds with bravery and heroism. Gaius Mucius Scaevola is a recurring motif in Mannerist iconography. According to legend, in 507 BC this young Roman vowed to kill the Etruscan king Porsena in order to release Rome from the siege it was under. Scaevola mistakenly killed Porsena’s secretary instead and was captured and brought before the king. When threatened with torture, he thrust his right hand into a fire, exclaiming that he was burning it to punish his mistake. Scaevola told Porsena that there were more young men willing to follow his example, and the king decided to free him and make peace.
The legend of Marcus Curtius tells how a chasm opened in the middle of the Roman Forum. The Romans tried to fill it but were unsuccessful and consulted the oracle, which replied that they should throw their most valuable possession into it. The young Marcus Curtius understood that Rome’s most precious asset was its young men and soldiers and leapt into the pit. The chasm closed and in its place a small lake emerged, the Lacus Curtius, into which coins were tossed during the imperial era as a tribute to Curtius.
Horatius Cocles lived in the sixth century BC and was known as a heroic leader of the Roman army against the Etruscans. His story is told in Book II of Livy’s History of Rome, which recounts how he fought the Etruscans single-handedly on a bridge over the Tiber. The Romans destroyed the bridge as he defended it, and Horatius had to jump into the Tiber to save himself. a.s.c.
armors as works of art and the image of power 129