Stillleben mit Rüstung

About this artwork

**Stillleben mit Rüstung (Still Life with Armor)** *Ernst Klimt, c. 1885, Oil on canvas laid on cardboard 19 x 26.5 cm* This intimate still life by Ernst Klimt, younger brother of the renowned Gustav Klimt, captures components of an unidentified armor: a detailed storm hood (Sturmhaube) and another fragment, rendered with meticulous realism. Created around 1885, the small-scale oil painting on canvas mounted to cardboard reflects the academic precision of late 19th-century Viennese art, before the radical innovations of the Secession movement. Klimt's careful brushwork highlights the metallic sheen and intricate engravings, transforming historical relics into a study of light, texture, and form. The storm hood is a free imitation of the "Bourguignote à la chimère," a fantastical 15th- or 16th-century Burgundian helmet housed in Paris's Musée de l'Armée (Inv. No. H 254). Such armors evoked medieval chivalry and Renaissance grandeur, resonating in fin-de-siècle Europe amid a revival of historicism. For Klimt, a painter of landscapes and portraits, this work showcases his skill in still life, blending technical virtuosity with a nostalgic gaze at the past. Housed in Vienna's Belvedere Collection, this gem invites visitors to ponder how everyday objects like armor parts bridge history and artistry, revealing the Klimt family's early mastery in capturing the tactile allure of the antique.