Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/226

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quatrefoil-shaped panels containing figures of two of the three Theological Virtues—Faith and Hope—inscribed "SPES" and "FIDES." On the front of the helmet is an oval shield of arms, surmounted by the Lion of St. Mark, with the inscription "MAXIMO . NON . MAGN(A)." The whole of the ground-*work is covered with trophies of Roman armour, swags of flowers, and drapery.

In connection with this helmet a most interesting discovery was made by Sir Claude Phillips some few years ago. On the occasion of a visit to the Museo Civico of Bologna he identified a shield exhibited there by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts as forming part of the same gala panoply of armour to which the Wallace helmet belongs. The shield not merely resembles the Wallace helmet, but there is also absolute identity of style in the construction and details of the two pieces of armour (Fig. 1273). The decoration upon the shield, which is oval in form, comprises figures of the four Cardinal Virtues—Justice, Temperance, Fortitude, and Prudence; while round the central boss runs the legend, "POPVLVS VNIVERSUS BERGOMENSIS AGRI," an inscription which should be read in connection with that found upon the Wallace helmet. On being appealed to, the librarian of the commune of Bergamo was good enough to consult the archives of that city, and to supply the information that the arms in the centre of the shield are those of the Bernardi of Venice, a family to which that Francesco belonged, who was captain of the forces of Bergamo from 7 July 1552, until 30 August 1553, a time during which Constantine Priuli was Syndic. A proclamation was made by this Captain Francesco on the 19 August 1553, "To regulate the Taxes of the territory," a proclamation that had also reference to the military supplies of Bergamo (Ducal Registers MS., 99, 15, vol. i, fols. 257a to 206b). From this rather slender chain of evidence it may perhaps be fairly inferred that the cabasset-like helmet just described and the shield of Bologna together formed a gift of recognition made in the latter part of the year 1553 to Captain Francesco Bernardo by the Commune of Bergamo.

Up to 1884 the shield at Bologna was exhibited in the Picture Gallery, but after that date it was placed in the Museo Civico. It would be interesting to find out when and how the helmet was separated from the shield to which it belongs, but unfortunately, in spite of the most careful research, the history of the helmet cannot be traced farther back than its purchase in Paris by Sir Richard Wallace for the sum of £3,500.

The next head-piece to which we shall refer—that beautiful morion which is the finest helmet of its kind with which we are acquainted—comes