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Giovanni Paolo Negroli

Helmet (burgonet) in the Form of a Dolphin Mask, 1540/1545

West Building, Ground Floor — Gallery G19

Medium

iron or steel, repoussé, embossed, and chiseled

Dimensions

overall: 29.5 x 20.9 x 31.6 cm (11 5/8 x 8 1/4 x 12 7/16 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.355

Artists / Makers

Giovanni Paolo Negroli (armorer) Milanese, active 1525/1565

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Provenance

Allegedly Rome, before 1850.[1] more probably identical with the helmet with a dolphin mask repeatedly exhibited in London.[2] (George Robins, London), 1833.[3] Sir Adam Hay, Bart. [1795-1867],[4] by 1862, as "Paolo di Negroli;" by inheritance to his great-grandson, Sir Duncan E. Hay, Bart., by 1909 until after 1911.[5] (Samuel J. Whawell, Eastbourne), by 26 March 1913.[6] (Partridge [probably Frank Partridge and Sons, London]), by 1916;[7] purchased by Joseph E. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, after 12 July 1916,[8] as "Paolo di Negroli," mid-sixteenth century; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, after purchase by funds of the Estate; gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] Guy Francis Laking, A Record of European Armour and Arms, 5 vols., London, 1920-1921: 4(1921):150, as acquired there by Sir Adam Hay.

[2] Catalogue of a Most Splendid and Instructive Collection of Antient[sic] Armour..., Exh. cat., Oplotheca, London, 1816-1817: no. 90; Catalogue of the Splendid Collection of Antient[sic] Armour..., Exh. cat., Gothic Hall, Pall Mall, London, 1820: no. 114; Exh. cat., Royal Armoury, Haymarket, London, n.d. [c. 1821]: no. 50.

[3] Francis Henry Cripps-Day, A Record of Armour Sales 1881-1924 (London, 1925): 1. Claude Blair, The James A. De Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor: Arms, Armour and Base-Metalwork, London and Fribourg, 1974: 46-52, traced in detail the nineteenth-century provenance of the dolphin helmet in question. Stuart Pyhrr provided the reference. Exh. cat. London 1816-1917: no. 90, said of the dolphin helmet, "said to have belonged to Francis I...It appears to be the design of Lionardo [sic] Da Vinci and the execution of Benvenuto Celini [sic]." This opinion carried over into A Catalogue of a Magnificent and Unique Collection of Ancient Armor...sold by Mr. George Robins...at Lang's Shooting Gallery, 7 Haymarket, on Monday the 10th of June and the following Day [sale cat., George Robins] (London, 1833), 26, no. 157. James Mann, Wallace Collection Catalogues: European Arms and Armour, 2 vols., London, 1962: 1:111, first suggested the Washington burgonet might be identical with the dolphin-faced helmet in question.

[4] On Sir Adam Hay and the disposition of his armor holdings, see Blair 1974, 46-52. Hay lent the helmet to the exhibition at South Kensington, 1862, 365, no. 4685.

[5] Lent by Sir Duncan to an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1909-1911.

[6] Laking 1920-1921, 4:145; Balir 1974, 52; Bashford Dean to William Riggs, 26 March 1913; Whawell to Dean, 23 February 1916, listing a group of objects, including the helmet, collected for shipment to America; letters on file at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, copies in NGA curatorial files.

[7] A Widener collection card in NGA curatorial files says only that the helmet was bought from "Partridge" in 1916. W.M. Bunford of Partridge Fine Arts, Ltd., London, confirmed that Joseph Widener was a client of Frank Partridge and Sons, Ltd., of London, and that the American branch of the firm was not started until well after 1916 (letter to Alison Luchs, 18 August 1986). Detailed Partridge records relevant to the helmet have not survived.

[8] Widener to Dean, 12 July 1916, seeking Dean's advice, on file at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, copy in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Hay, 10th Bt., Duncan E., Sir
Hay, 7th Bt., Adam, Sir
Partridge, Frank
Robins, George
Unknown Patron
Whawell, Samuel J.
Widener, Joseph E.

Exhibition History

1816: Probably Catalogue of a Most Splendid and Instructive Collection of Ancient Armour ..., Oplotheca, London, 1816-1817, no. 90.

1818: Catalogue of the Splendid Collection of Ancient Armour ..., Gothic Hall, Pall Mall, London, 1818, no. 108, (1819, 1820), no. 114.

1821: Probably Royal Armoury, Haymarket, London, n.d. [c.1821], no. 50.

1862: Special Exhibition of Works of Art of the Medieval, Renaissance, and More Recent Periods on Loan at the South Kensington Museum ..., South Kensington Museum, London, 1862, 365, no. 4685.

1909: Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1909-1911.

1923: Loan for display with permanent collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1923, no catalogue.

1924: Helmets: A Loan Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1924, no catalogue.

1931: Loan Exhibition of European Arms and Armor, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1931, no. 82, repro.

1988: The Sforza Court: Milan in the Renaissance 1450-1535, University of Texas, Austin; University of California, Berkeley; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 1988-1989, 17, 25, no. 80, repro. 24.

1994: Fanciful Flourishes: Ornament in European Graphic Art and Related Objects, 1300-1800, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994, brochure, no. 23, repro.

1998: Heroic Armor of the Italian Renaissance: Filippo Negroli and his Contemporaries, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1998-1999, no. 44, repro., as Burgonet.

2010: Arcimboldo, 1526-1593: Nature and Fantasy, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2010 - 2011, no. 41.

Bibliography

1816: Probably Catalogue of a Most Splendid and Instructive Collection of Ancient Armour .... Exh. cat. Oplotheca, London, 1816-1817: no. 90.

1818: Catalogue of the Splendid Collection of Ancient Armour .... Exh. cat. Gothic Hall, Pall Mall, London, 1818: no. 108; (1819, 1820): no. 114.

1862: South Kensington 1862, 365, 4685.

1920: Laking, Guy Francis. A Record of European Armour and Arms. 5 vols. London, 1920-1922, 3 (1920): 293; 4 (1921): 150-151, fig. 1233.

1923: Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 18 (October 1923): 236.

1924: Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 19 (July 1924): 162-163.

1931: "Fine Display of Rare Armor Held at Metropolitan." Art News 29 (August 1931): 4, 9, repro.

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 73.

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 15, as Milanese 16th Century (Paolo di Negroli).

1953: Thomas, Bruno, and Ortwin Gamber. "L'arte Milanese dell' Armatura." Storia di Milano. 16 vols and index. Milan, 1953-1966: 11(1958):764.

1962: Mann, James. Wallace Collection Catalogues; European Arms and Armour. 2 vols. London, 1962: 1:111.

1974: Blair, Claude. The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Arms, Armour and Base-Metalwork. London and Fribourg, 1974: 46-52.

1977: Thomas, Bruno. Gesammelte Schriften zur historischen Waffenkunde. 2 vols. Graz, 1977: 2:1036.

1983: Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 144, repro.

1987: Scalini, Mario. Armature all'erocia dei Negroli. Florence, 1987: 34, fig. 24, 40, n. 30, 44.

1988: The Sforza Court: Milan in the Renaissance 1450-1535. Exh. cat. Univ. of Texas, Austin; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 1988-1989: 17, 25, no. 80, repro. 24.

2000: National Gallery of Art Special Issue. Connaissance des Arts. Paris, 2000:62.