Young man in armour
(early 17th century)
Medium
marble
Measurements
67.9 × 49.0 × 24.8 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1947
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
For a nobleman in the sixteenth century, armour was the supreme symbol of honour, wealth and status. This portrait of a youth reflects the extent to which armour had become subject to fashion. His marble breastplate features the exotic masks and vegetable forms (grotteschi) discovered in the recently excavated first-century Golden House of Nero. Great armourers, such as the Milanese Lucio Piccinino (active 1575–90), transferred these motifs onto parade armour using relief, embossing and damascening techniques. The sculptor’s interest in imitating the prized decorative surfaces of Renaissance armour seems to exceed his interest in the youth’s physiognomy, which is almost bland by comparison.