Complete Description
Forgé à partir d'une seule feuille de bronze, ce casque présente un dôme à crête décentré et une protection de nuque concave. Les longues pièces de joue pointues sont percées à leur base pour la fixation de la jugulaire. Les yeux sont profilés et le protège-nez épais. Un décor poinçonné orne le pourtour du casque, les yeux et le protège-nez, tandis qu'un motif de palmette d'anthémion est présent de chaque côté de la joue.
Haut.: 20 cm
Ancienne collection particulière anglaise, acquis en 1969
Rupert Wace Ancient Art Limited, Londres
Collection Christian Levett, Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins, acquis en 2010
Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins (MACM), Mougins, France, juin 2011-août 2023 (Inv. n° MMoCA552)
M. Burns, "Graeco-Italic Militaria" dans M. Merrony (ed.), Mougins Museum of Classical Art, France, 2011, p. 199, n°52
R. Hixenbaugh, Ancient Greek Helmets : A Complete Guide and Catalogue, New York, 2019, p. 440, n°780
This Corinthian-type helmet is probably the most famous and typical form of Greek armour from the late 6th century BCE. Appearing possibly as early as the 8th century BCE, it quickly spread throughout the western Mediterranean. In Italy, it gave rise to the Apulo-Corinthian type, worn as a bowl-shaped helmet, slightly pushed back on the skull, whereas the Corinthian helmet fully enclosed the warrior’s head.
This full protection explains the eye openings, wide enough to provide a suitable field of vision, and the cheek guards, sufficiently developed to ensure maximum protection of the face. This type was gradually abandoned in favour of the Chalcidian and Phrygian helmets, which were more comfortable and lighter but left the face more exposed. (The neck guard, slightly curved outward, protects against blows to the back of the head. The eye openings are topped with a raised motif imitating eyebrows, and a frieze of incised beads decorates the entire outline of the helmet).
