[Ruel A. Macaraeg]

Friends,
I've been trying to sort my pictures from a visit to the Alcázar de Segovia, particularly the several armors on display. I suspect many may in fact be replicas from the time this castle was restored in the 1800s, but overall they seem to follow historical patterns. Many are in the German Gothic style, and there's one Maximilian also (see link below).

There are several others, though, which seem to have elements of Gothic, Milanese, and other armor designs coupled with Spanish-looking morion and cabasset helmets. I've tentatively lumped them together as Spanish armors of the early "Golden Age" (late 15th-early 16thc) but am not actually sure where or when their designs come from. Pictures of them are here:

Various Spanish armors, uncertain attribution:
http://forensicfashion.com/1492CastilianKnightArmor.html

More armors which I tentatively assume are later 16thc. Spanish:
http://forensicfashion.com/1585SpanishKnightArmorField.html

German Gothic-style armors in the Alcázar de Segovia, for comparison:
http://forensicfashion.com/1494GermanKnightArmor.html

I don't yet have a good eye for full plate armors yet, and would appreciate help in making the proper attributions. On first impression, these look somewhat like the many artistic reconstructions of "conquistador" armor, which themselves seem to pull elements liberally from a variety of pan-European sources. Being non-systematic, I haven't found such reconstructions to be a good guide for classifying actual examples.

Thanks! ruel

[James Arlen Gillaspie]

I will refrain from shouting, 'Winky, WInky, Winky!' since that would be annoying. All the 'gothic' stuff and much of the rest is, I believe, the work of Winkelmayer of Vienna, 19th century. After the fire, they had to do something, after all. There is some 16th c. stuff of indifferent quality, however. I enjoy the Winkelmayer stuff a great deal, myself; he had a lot of fun with what he was doing. Peter Finer had a suit of his for sale awhile back, and a 'Maximilian' of his sold at auction a year or so ago. Attached is a pic of the Finer suit, and the 'Maximilian'.

[Ruel A. Macaraeg]

Hi James,

* I can't remember if I mentioned it already, but I think we met a couple years back at the Museum at the FIT in NY, during the "Love and War" reception party. (I gave a lecture the following day.)
http://www3.fitnyc.edu/museum/loveandwar/

* Thanks for this lead! I recall hearing that many of the furnishings supplied after the renovation came from the private collection of the 19thc Spanish philanthropist Lazaro Galdiano, who also has an eponymous museum in Madrid (closed last year when I visited, which supposedly has some armor there also). If Galdiano and "Winky" can be linked personally, that might go far in assigning the Segovia pieces to Winkelmeyer.

Did Winkelmeyer only work on German patterns, or might some of the Segovia armors be replicas of Spanish armors? Or might those have been authentic or composite 15th or 16th century Spanish pieces? They don't seem to fit either Gothic or Maximilian descriptions.

Here's a photo of the one Maximilian armor in the Alcazar de Segovia (bottom of the page):
http://forensicfashion.com/1529AustrianKnightArmor.html

[James Arlen Gillaspie]

Hello, Ruel,

Why yes, I think we did meet! Boy, that was an overstimulated night...

There's a way to have a look at pics of most of the arms and armour items in the Galdiano collection, and I remember seeing quite a bit of 'Winky' work in there. The Segovia stuff makes it clear to me, at least, that Winkelmayer was using stuff from the Armeria Real in Madrid as inspiration for much of it, but was very free in his interpretation. This pic is of an equestian armour that is obviously a characture in steel of some of Charles V's equestrian harness in Madrid. Note that I said a characture; the 'Max' armour I previously posted showed that he could stick pretty close to source material when he chose. As for the 'Max' in Segovia, I don't think it's his. What's up with the gauntlets, anyway? And that helm....

[Ruel A. Macaraeg]

* That was a rather fun night at FIT. Was Valerie Steele's gorget one of yours?

I'm about to head out of town for a couple days, but when I get back I'll scan some postcards of armor from the Armeria Real so we can compare them against the Segovia pieces. Have a great weekend!

[James Arlen Gillaspie]

Yep, that's my gorget and gauntlet. Have a look at Calvert's book, Spanish Arms & Armour, which is about the Madrid collection. Here's a pic of the equestrian armour that Winky spoofed. He left the ram's horns off, though.