A barbute (also termed a barbuta, which in Italian literally means "bearded", possibly because the beard of a wearer would be visible) is a visorless war helmet of 15th-century Italian design, often with a distinctive "T" shaped or "Y" shaped opening for the eyes and mouth.

Origins

The name 'barbuta' when applied to a helmet is first recorded in an inventory made for the Gonzaga family of

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

in 1407. The helmet can be considered as a specialised form of the

sallet The sallet (also called ''celata,'' ''salade'' and ''schaller'') was a combat helmet that replaced the bascinet in Italy, western and northern Europe and Hungary during the mid-15th century. In Italy, France and England the armet helmet was also p ...

, both types of helmet being ultimately derivations of the earlier

bascinet The bascinet – also bassinet, basinet, or bazineto – was a Medieval European open-faced combat helmet. It evolved from a type of iron or steel skullcap, but had a more pointed apex to the skull, and it extended downwards at the rear an ...

. The barbute resembles

classical Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

helmets (most strikingly the

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

) and may have been influenced by the renewed interest in ancient artifacts common during this period.

Characteristics

This type of helmet has been described as an example of formal beauty being the result of functional efficiency. The defining characteristic of the barbute is the forward extension of the sides of the helmet towards the mid-line; this gives protection to the sides of the user's face below the eyes. Regardless of the form of the combined vision and breath opening, T-shaped, Y-shaped or arch-shaped, this characteristic is always present. The edge of the T- shaped opening is almost always reinforced by a riveted-on iron rim, usually extending to the lower edge of the helmet. The Y-shaped form often incorporates a distinct projection to guard the nose, which otherwise would protrude from the combined ventilation and vision opening. At least one example exists incorporating an extremely elongated nasal, which is hinged. The barbute could be worn with a plate

gorget A gorget , from the French ' meaning throat, was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather collar to protect the thro ...

. However, the barbute was often worn with a stiffened mail collar, termed a "

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

", which protected the throat and neck. Some examples of the barbute, as in a number of Italian sallets, were covered in a rich decorative fabric, typically heavy velvet. A number of surviving barbutes incorporate a keyhole-shaped hole at the apex of the skull for the attachment of a decorative crest. A contemporary painting commissioned by Federigo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, shows a barbuta surmounted by a crest in the shape of a heraldic eagle. Unlike the sallet, the barbute seems to have enjoyed little popularity outside Italy. Barbutes were most commonly raised from a single sheet of metal, however, modern metallurgy has shown that many Italian Renaissance helmets were essentially of

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

faced with

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

, which was annealed and

quenched In materials science, quenching is the rapid cooling of a workpiece in water, oil, polymer, air, or other fluids to obtain certain material properties. A type of heat treating, quenching prevents undesired low-temperature processes, such as ph ...

to give it the desired characteristics of a hard outer surface, with a

ductile Ductility is a mechanical property commonly described as a material's amenability to drawing (e.g. into wire). In materials science, ductility is defined by the degree to which a material can sustain plastic deformation under tensile stres ...

inner layer which prevented shattering.Grancsay, pp. 189-190 Many barbutes feature a low front-to-back ridge, raised from the top of the helmet's skull; this served to strengthen the helmet without adding a significant amount of weight.

References

Bibliography

*Grancsay, Stephen V. (1963) ''Sculpture in Steel: A Milanese Renaissance Barbute'', The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 21, No. 5 (Jan., 1963), pp. 182–191, Published by: The Metropolitan Museum of Art *Oakeshott, Ewart (1980) ''European Weapons and Armour: From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution.'' Lutterworth Press. *Pyhrr, Stuart W. (1989) ''European Armor from the Imperial Ottoman Arsenal'', Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 24 (1989), pp. 85–116, The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

External links

* {{Elements of Medieval armor Medieval helmets