c. 1618-20

Half Armor

This armor is decorated with an etched pattern that distinguishes it as part of a small group of important armors made in Milan around the turn of the seventeenth century for powerful noblemen in Italy and Spain. The only example from the group to include an etched inscription and coat of arms, this armor was intended for a member of the noble Venetian family da Ponte, presumably one who held a military appointment in Crema, a town in Lombardy then under the domination of the Republic of Venice.