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Arms

On the ground floor it is also possible to see the ancient arms collection; there are about four hundred specimens gathered by the count from Piacenza Antonio Parma (1787-1850) in the first half of the 19th century.

The main core of the collection includes 16th century arms which were purchased in Parma and Mantova and from some noble families of Piacenza. In 1849 the count gave its collection to the art institute  “Gazzola”; Count Marazzani gave 12 Eastern arms to the same institute in 1856, after which further arms were given  between 1885 and 1889, as well as at the beginning of the 19th century. The whole collection was finally given to the Municipal Museum.

Pompeo della Cesa-Armatura.JPG

Pompeo della Cesa Armour 1580—1585

This armour is the most beautiful of the collection as far as relisation is concerned. It is engraved and gilded, with alternate blank and engraved parts, is composed by a horse helmet,   three plate neck guard, two plate throat piece, breast and back plates,  complete symmetrical brassards and pallettes, and only lacks the fingers in the right gauntlet; it also has greaves including whole knee caps, but no shoes. It was carried out between 1580 and 85, and in the centre of the chest it carries the signature “pompe”, used by the armourer from Milan Pompeo della Cesa, to sign its creations. To understand the fame of Pompeo della Cesa it is sufficient to say that he manufactured the armours for the duke Alessandro Farnese. The owners of this armour were the counts Dal Verme from Piacenza, from whom the collector had purchased it.