<div class="description">
The term “Savoyard helmet” is used today to evoke the elite cavalry units formed by Charles Emanuel I, Duke of Savoy (1580-1630).  Such helmets were designed principally to withstand and protect the wearer from shot from the powerful wheel-lock guns of the day, though their secondary function was to intimidate and terrify.  The design of the helmet suggests a human face or skull. They were known as todenkopf or “death’s head” helmets in Germany.  The helmet would have originally been associated with a three-quarter cuirassier armor.  Similar armors are displayed nearby.</div>
<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://clevelandart.org/art/2013.50">https://clevelandart.org/art/2013.50</a>