Corinthian-style Helmet

Place of OriginGreece, from Peania, near Spata

Date500-450 BCE

Dimensions11 3/8 × 7 1/8 × 10 5/8 in. (28.9 × 18.1 × 27 cm)

MediumRaised bronze

ClassificationMetalwork

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Anderton Bentley Fund

Object number

1993.46

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

Label TextImagine a warrior’s eyes peering out at you through this Corinthian-style helmet. No doubt that very sight often prevented observers from noticing its streamlined design or the “Egyptian” shape of its eye-holes that imitated the dark kohl outline used to protect the eyes from harsh glare. After being used in battle, such helmets may have been dedicated or used as an offering in one of the many sanctuaries or temples in ancient Greece. This style of helmet, invented and perfected in Corinth, quickly became the standard for the Aegean and Mediterranean world. In this Museum alone there are 32 examples of this kind of Corinthian helmet depicted on Greek vases… see how many you can find in this gallery.Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art; Tampa Museum of Art, The Fire of Hephaistos: Large Classical Bronzes from North American Collections, 1996-1997.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Snodgrass, A.E., Early Greek Armour and Weapons from the Bronze Age to 600 B.C., Edinburgh, 1964, pp. 219-221.

cf. Snodgreass, A.E., Arms and Armour of the Greeks, London, 1967, pp. 93-94.

cf. Jackson, A., "Some deliberate damage to Archaic Greek helmets dedicated at Olympia," Liverpool Classical Monthly, 8.2, Feb. 1983, pp. 22-27.

cf. Pflug, H. and D. Cahn, Schutz und Zier, Helme aus dem Antikenmuseum Berlin und Waffen anderer Sammlungen, Basel, Antiken Museum und Sammlungen Ludwig, 1989, pp. 20-22 and p. 58, cat. no. 21; p. 91, cat. no. 82a.