Examining its Production and State of Preservation
The collection of the Wien Museum contains the world’s oldest, almost completely intact suit of armor for a horse. As part of this research project, it was completely dismantled, and every individual piece was examined in order to determine how it was made and its current condition. Based on its embossing in the metal, the suit of armor could be dated to the year 1450.
The suit of armor had been remodeled several times over the years in order to display it on a slender 17th century horse mannequin. As part of the project, we took apart the neck, protection or Kanz, which consists of 33 separate pieces, and reconstructed it in its original configuration. As a result, the tender baroque horse was replaced by a sturdy warhorse. A historical successor of the breed from a German stud confirmed the proportions identified in our research. This real horse provided us with the basis for a new figurine. The baroque model of a warmblood horse has now been replaced with the historically proven and authentic shape of a cold-blooded one.
Project Duration 11/2015 to 06/2017
Project Leader Regula Künzli, emeritus object restorer and Walter Öhlinger, emeritus curator
Project Participants Anna-Maria Pfanner and Ines Gollner, freelance object restorers
