Embossed steel parade shield, formerly gold and silver damascened on a blued ground, depicting Hercules overcoming the Nemean lion, from engravings by Guilo Romano or Luca Penni after Raphael, Italy, mid 16th century

Embossed steel, formerly gold and silver damascened on a blued ground, depicting Hercules overcoming the Nemean lion, copied from engravings by Guilo Romano or Luca Penni after Raphael, surrounded by an acanthus scroll border with putti

This shield dates from mid-16th-century Italy and probably originates from Milan. It is an item of parade armour made primarily for display. When new it would have been a deep blue colour (after heat treatment) with damascened (inlaid or overlaid) decoration in silver and gold picking our the richly embossed surface.

The Museum bought the shield in 1866 from Senor Carbonero in Madrid under the 'Authority for Mr Robinson to go to Spain etc' of 29th June 1865. According to the object register this document (now lost) records that 'the shield was obtained from the family of the Marquess of Lara of Andalucia'. (JC Robinson's Reports, June 1866 to Sept 1867, 32229, Dec 1866)

This shield may be seen as one of those objects which heralded a change in direction in the Museum's collecting activities after the appointment of John Charles Robinson as Curator in 1853. Robinson was a prolific collector and persuaded the Museum's first director, Henry Cole, that historic works of art were as instructive to students as 'modern manufactures'. Under Robinson's guidance, some of the earliest purchases by the Museum included outstanding examples of European armour collected as works of art.

Historical significance: Shields of this period survive in quite large numbers, partly because they were intended for display and commemoration. Very few bear a signature or date but most are the work of Milanese armourers and some come from southern Germany.

The embossed ornament was largely inspired by the works of Guilio Romano and Luca Penni after Raphael. Another shield embossed with the same subject is in the Polish Army Museum, Warsaw.

This shield is a work of art, made for display rather than battle. During the 16th century armour was not only used in war and tournaments but was worn for parades, royal entries into towns and other state occasions to denote the wealth, status and majesty of noble households.

The shield was embossed rather than cast. The designs were traced on the surface and then worked using a variety of hammers and punches from the reverse. ‘Chasing’ or pressing the metal using a fine tool called a burin completed the complicated detail on the front. This form of art was an Italian speciality.

The scene in the centre is of Hercules strangling the Nemean lion, the first of his Twelve Labours. Hercules' labours were his punishment for killing his children in a rage. He was commanded to perform any task that Eurythstheus, King of Tiryns, desired for a period of twelve years. The first task was to kill the savage lion that terrorised the town of Nemea. Hercules did so with his bare hands after the lion proved impervious to his weapons. In the scene on the shield Hercules holds the lion in a headlock just outside the walls of the city. The labours were frequently depicted in art and came to symbolise penance and the triumph of right over wrong.

Decorative designs from engravings after Raphael

This shield dates from mid-16th-century Italy and probably originates from Milan. It is an item of parade armour made primarily for display. When new it would have been a deep blue colour (after heat treatment) with damascened (inlaid or overlaid) decoration in silver and gold picking our the richly embossed surface.

The scene in the centre is of Hercules strangling the Nemean lion, the first of his Twelve Labours. Hercules' labours were his punishment for killing his children in a rage. He was commanded to perform any task that Eurythstheus, King of Tiryns, desired for a period of twelve years. The first task was to kill the savage lion that terrorised the town of Nemea. Hercules did so with his bare hands after the lion proved impervious to his weapons. In the scene on the shield Hercules holds the lion in a headlock just outside the walls of the city. The labours were frequently depicted in art and came to symbolise penance and the triumph of right over wrong.

319-1866