Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 3).djvu/320

 engineer, was at one time in the service of Guidobaldo II, Duke of Urbino. The latter prince took as his second wife Vittoria, sister of Ottavio Farnese, son-in-law of Charles V, exactly one year after that in which this armour was constructed; and, allowance being made for the anxiety of the princes of the small States of Italy to secure the protection of the Empire, it seems more than likely that the Prince of Urbino showed his gratitude to the conqueror for the new alliance by offering for his acceptance this rich armour. The hypothesis put forward by the Count de Valencia assumes the character of certainty when he is able to add that the monogram of Guidobaldo appears on the backplate in gilded embossed letters, surmounted by a crown, identical with those to be found on various pieces of artillery belonging to the Duke. The crowning proof is afforded by the fact that the measurements of the armour coincide with those of the other panoplies of the period which belonged to the Emperor Charles V. We have, therefore, if not full proof, at least a fair presumption that Guidobaldo II commissioned Campi to make this armour and presented it to Charles V. Before we describe this most beautiful suit of armour and its curious technical detail, let us see what the famous Signor A. Angelucci in his work, ''Documenti inediti per la storia delle armi da fuoco italiane'', Turin, 1869, says of the wonderful armourer who produced it. Signor Angelucci's notes were amplified by the late Count de Valencia, who was allowed to make further researches into the history of this armourer-soldier among the historical archives of the Duke of Alva. The double research has resulted in bringing to light the following facts:

Bartolommeo Campi, who was born in Pesaro at the beginning of the XVIth century, followed in his youth the trade of a goldsmith or engraver of metals, and made weapons and armour of great richness, which merited the eulogies bestowed upon them by the notorious literary blackmailer, Pietro Aretino, in letters sent from Venice to Bartolommeo Egnazio (1545), about the time Campi was employed upon this armour for Charles V. In 1547 he had charge of the festivities celebrated in Pesaro on the occasion of the wedding of Guidobaldo II and Vittoria Farnese, and two years later he finished the admirable work of art in gold and silver which the Municipality of Pesaro presented to the new-born son of that Prince. From 1554 to 1560 he served successively the Republic of Siena, the Republic of Venice, and the French monarch, Henri II, as military engineer. He assisted at the siege of Calais.