Design for a breastplate

This drawing is a design for the decoration of a breastplate for the King Henry II of France, which was executed in embossed steel and is currently preserved with the rest of the armour in The Metropolitan Museum, New York. Delaune’s style was deeply influenced by the school of Fontainebleau which main motifs recur here in the figures, cherub, grotesque animals, serpents, masks intertwined in foliated arabesques. Etienne Delaune trained as a goldsmith and produced designs for prints and book illustrations but also for objects to be made either in metal or porcelain: tableware, armours, swords, jewellery, coins and medals.