Missaglia Gothic Fan-Shaped Pauldron

Tempo di lettura: 2 minuti

Throughout the 1400s and a significant part of the 1500s, Milanese armor craftsmanship was renowned not only within our peninsula but also beyond the Alps, a distinction that had fostered a thriving trade defended by Duke Francesco Sforza through a highly protectionist policy towards the guild of armorers and their productions.

We can take as an example an illustrious figure such as the King of France himself, who had to request the Duke’s permission to “licentia ad ordinar armature” (ASM Miss.Duc. 25 dated April 22, 1455). This is one of the many requests from foreign dignitaries that we can find in Milanese archives, leading us to deduce that Milan was engaged in a significant trade of “export” armors, not only in the Italian style (highly appreciated) but also in the Gothic style.

In a letter from the Duke of Bavaria (April 27, 1459 ASM), Ludovico IX recommends to Francesco Sforza that his armorer, Wilhelm Hochenberg (Gulielmo Hochenberg), visiting Milan, be received favorably to purchase and order some armors for his lord, possibly in the Gothic style?

As evidence of this export production, we present photographs and details of two Gothic-style pauldrons bearing the marks of the MISSAGLIA workshop, preserved at the Cleveland Museum of Art (link).