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Ancient warriors entered into battle with an array of accoutrements weighing as much as 70 pounds. The crowning piece of equipment, the helmet, completed the soldier’s transformation into a fearsome warrior. More than two thousand years later, these masterful bronze helmets are prized for their technical craftsmanship and iconography, revealed here with a selection of styles that can be found in our June sale.

High-Crested Cretan

Distinguished by the high crest (a forward-curving inverted hook) rising up from the crown, this early Cretan helmet would have been a towering presence on the battlefield. The narrow ends of the crest open with evenly spaced perforations where plumes may have been added for further embellishment. One of only two known examples of the “open face” design, the crown features carefully-incised mythological scenes, including Perseus presenting the head of Medusa to Athena.

Pseudo-Corinthian

Early Corinthian helmets with eye-holes and nose guards were worn down over the face. The later pseudo-Corinthian versions, like this example, reflect a stylistic progression—they were no longer worn for full-face protection but pushed to the top of the head. The small eye-holes are purely decorative.

Illyrian

The Illyrian type helmet is named after the ancient region of Illyria, near what is today the western part of the Balkan Peninsula, but it originated in the Peloponnese. Crafted from a single sheet of bronze, the style is characterized by the fully covered head, flaring neck-guard and the open-face design. This particular example is appealing for the evenly-spaced gilt-bronze rivets decorating the perimeter.

Phrygian

With its high crown and vertical rounded peak, the Phrygian helmet takes its name from a type of cap worn in by the Phrygian people in Asia Minor. The front of this example is ornamented with an appliqué in the form of a facing head of Athena.

Negau

Although named for a region in Slovenia where a large deposit of similar helmets was discovered, the Negau type helmet was worn by the early Etruscans of central Italy. It is marked by a clean, simple design, with a high domed crown. These helmets were made and worn by the Etruscans, but they were also exported to neighbors further north into central Europe.

In Action

The Berlin Painter is considered one of the greatest vase-painters of his generation. This red-figured amphora featuring two warriors in combat, both fully armed (note the crested Chalcidian helmet with raised cheek-guards), is a crowning example of his talent. A pupil of the Pioneer School of the late 6th century B.C., the Berlin Painter takes his modern name from one of

his masterpieces, an amphora in Berlin. He is perhaps best known for featuring single figures on either side of the vase, as here, even where the action continues, and with a notable reduction of ornament. Although there are no identifying attributes or inscriptions on this example, the youthful warrior may be Achilles, while the collapsing one on the reverse is most likely Hector.