Cabacete (Helmet)
Unknown Artist
c. 1480s–90s
Medium
steel
Dimensions
27.3 × 26 × 36.5 cm
Classification
Arms and Armor
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
2012.39
About this artwork
This tall open-face cabacete, alternately known as a "kettle hat" or "war hat" and ancestor of the later morion popular during the 1500s, would have been worn by an infantry soldier, not a mounted knight. The helmet has a conical point and a broad swooping brim, and its user may have worn a bevor, or separate chin piece, to protect his lower face and throat. He may also have worn a brigandine, or canvas doublet lined with metal plates, to protect his torso. Infantry troops were generally armed w...