Page 136 - El arte del poder

33-36
Garniture presented
by Duke Charles Emmanuel of Savoy to King Philip III in 1603
Milan, c. 1585
Embossed, chased, etched, gilt, and gold-damascened steel; gold, silver, fabric
[33] Burgonet: height 36 cm; width 27 cm; weight 2375 g
[34] Shield: diameter 57.5 cm; height 7.5 cm; weight 3930 g
[35] Chanfron and crinet: length 138 cm; width 27 cm; height 21 cm [36] Tail-guard: length 37.2 cm; width 18.7 cm; weight 765 g Patrimonio Nacional. Madrid, Real Armería, cat. A.291, A.292
and A.293
bibliography: Martínez del Romero 1849, no. 1918; Valencia de Don Juan 1898, pp. 71-72, 97-10, nos. A.291, A.293, illus. XVI, figs. 46- 47 and 61-62; Godoy 2003, pp. 324-360 and 489-491
In 1585 the Infanta Catherine Micaela (1567-1597), daughter of Philip II and Elizabeth of Valois, wed Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy (1562-1630). To mark this important union whereby he married into the Spanish royal family, the Duke of Savoy must have commissioned a fabulous, sophisticated parade garniture, represented here by a set comprising burgonet and shield, a chanfron, and a tail-guard for a horse. In 1603 Charles Emmanuel sent his three sons from Turin to the Spanish court for them to be educated alongside their uncle, King Philip III. At a time when the Spanish king did not yet have an heir, the young men, who were possible pretenders to the throne, brought with them a rich gift consisting of this garniture and other objects that attested to the wealth and status of the House of Savoy. One of the bearers of the gift was the teenage Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy (1588-1624), whose armor and adult portrait painted by Van Dyck are also shown in the exhibition (cat. 66 and 67).
The arms sent in 1603, however, date back eighteen years earlier, and therefore cannot have been used by Philip III. This royal—and perhaps diplomatic—gift would also have represented the House of Savoy in the prestigious Spanish Royal Armory which held the
collection of Charles V and Philip II. It was comprised of a small garniture for use on foot and on horseback, two horse bards, two sets of Turkish-style helmets and shields with sables, in addition to other accessory pieces that are now lost. Despite the richness of the relief work and gold- and silver damascening, the set lacks part of its original splendor, as it has lost the gemstones, painted crystals, and applied cameos that enhanced the sumptuous decoration of fanciful and triumphal themes. The description of the present shield in the Royal Armory inventory of 1594-1652 (fol. 112o) gives an idea of this richness: “A Shield its entire field scattered with [precious] stones and colored glass lined with black velvet embroidered in gold and silver.” The burgonet is surmounted by a sphinx whose wings were already missing by the eighteenth century. Each side of the helmet bowl is decorated with an oval medallion. The right-hand side features Romulus and Remus, accompanied by the she-wolf, between the river Tiber and the hills of Rome. On the left the chariot of Phaeton, the son of the sun god, plunges towards the river Eridanus, struck down by Jupiter’s thunderbolts in order to put an end to his erratic journey that could have set the world on fire.
The central medallion of the shield illustrates an anecdote recounted by Plutarch. When still a boy, Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) tamed Bucephalus in the presence of his father, Philip II of Macedonia (382-336 BC), who is shown facing the horse and wearing a laurel wreath. The other four oval medallions around it display hunting scenes with an elephant, a lion, a bear, and a bull—animals associated with strength and possible references to the various territories conquered by Alexander.
The fabulous horse chanfron belongs to one of the two bards of the garniture, which is now incomplete. It represents the head and neck of a dragon, with the vertebras marked along the axis and fur and scales extending over the entire surface. The spike on the forehead recalls a unicorn. The horse’s nostrils were covered by those of the chanfron, which are flanked by two curved fangs, which were designed to bring the dragon to life on cold winter days.
The tail-guard belonged to the same bard as the chanfron, as evidenced by the dragon’s head with the same scaling. A particular feature is that it can be viewed in both directions, becoming a fanciful mask when seen from the upper end. a.s.c.
armors as works of art and the image of power 135