Examining the oldest armor on view in SLAM’s arms and armor galleries

The Museum’s arms and armor galleries contain centuries-worth of outstanding metalwork and woodwork. Housed on Level 1 of the Museum, these galleries contain full suits of armor, various weapons, and art depicting historic figures dressed for battle. Visitors can view ceremonial weapons—such as a Partisan, a type of staff used to create an imposing presence when carried upright by a large group of bodyguards—and complete sets of field armor, the most common type made for war in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. An exceptional example of armor in the Museum’s collection is the Sallet Helmet, SLAM’s earliest and finest helmet on view. Visitors can find this object in the William T. Kemper Foundation Gallery 125. 

Made around 1480, this helmet was beaten from one large sheet of metal. Skill and finesse were required to hammer the smooth, sweeping form. This type of helmet is characterized by its horizontal profile and long pointed tail. The curve of its surface deflects weapons; viewers can see evidence of sword cuts. Pierced with a vision slit, the sallet exudes a mysterious, masklike presence. A series of star-shaped steel rivets at ear level were used to secure a cloth helmet lining.

Although a helmet was only one element of a knight’s armor, it was the crowning glory of military garb, and its form, construction, and decoration provide clues to its use, date, and place of manufacture. This sallet was probably wrought in late-15th-century Innsbruck, Austria. According to How to Read European Armor by Donald La Rocca for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, “some of the most beautiful armor in the late gothic and early Renaissance styles” was made in Innsbruck and the neighboring German town of Mühlau. The Austrian city had a reputation for its strong steel and skilled armorers.