Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/185

 accept the burgonet as the work of a Negroli or as emanating from Milan, but inclines to the opinion that it is the work of a Roman armourer. He admits that the helmet is designed on the Milanese model, but the embossing is heavy and the azzimina damascening is unlike any which he can call to mind.

(b) Front view with the visor raised. (c) Three-quarter view with the visor lowered.

In the case of the earlier casques made by Picinino we have unqualified praise for their very exuberance of richness; but in the later works of this armourer the desire to over-burden all the surface planes with enrichment is apparent. The great artist-armourers of the first half of the century, although they indulged in splendid decoration, were always careful to leave some part of their work plain, as much to preserve the purity of