Morion from an all'Antica Set

The morion, created by an anonymous Northern Italian master, was part of an all'antica set which belonged to Archduke Ferdinand II. The iron parts of the helmet were decorated with embossed, gold damascened and sumptuously executed mythological scenes. Evidence of the tradition of fantastic, bizarre helmet forms is already known in painting, drawing and other media as of the second half of the fifteenth century. examples are the frescoes of Piero della Francesca in Arezzo and the drawing of Leonardo in the British Museum, London.