The Tyrolese Archduke Ferdinand of Hapsburg (1520-1595) gathered together an omnivorous collection of art and wonders that provoked the awed admiration of his contemporaries at his castle in Ambras near Innsbruck. His main interest was the armoury, where he collected the armour worn in battle by the most famous knights of the era. These empty shells of warriors, collected by a lover of military iron tailoring, parade here with a commentary by Christian Beaufort-Spontin, of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, an expert in weapons history. This theatre of Vanitas Belli, a phantasmal tournament of empty armour engraved by the Diors of ironware, is matched by Italo Calvino’s narrative masterpiece, that of the Nonexistent Knight, which is perhaps the only story in the world where clothes not only do not make the man, but are the man.

48 color tables reproducing the armour collection of Archduke Ferdinand of Hapsburg at Ambrass Castle

Authors: Italo Calvino, Cristian Beaufort-Spontin

Foto: Roberto Bigano
Translation by Fernando Solinas from german, Susanne E.L. Probst

Binding in black "Orient" silk, with tipped-in colour plate, impressed gold lettering and library case

Hand-made paper, Ingres, pastel Blue, manufactured by Cartiere Miliani in Fabriano