Art Institute of Chicago

Armor for the Field and Tourney

South German or Austrian (Probably Innsbruck)

Date

1560/70

Medium

Steel, brass, traces of gilding, leather, and velvet textile

Culture

Innsbruck

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This Augsburg armor is rare in that all of the pieces are original and belong to the same garniture. The elements have alternate polished areas and etched bands enclosing strap work and arabesque grounds; the etched bands were originally gilded, but only traces of the gilding remain. This is a complete armor for a mounted knight or a high-ranking heavy cavalryman who was fully suited in plate armor, including a close helmet, neck defense (gorget), shoulder and arm defenses (pauldrons, vambraces, and gauntlets), cuirass with tassets and lance rest, and leg defenses (cuisses with poleyns, and greaves with sabatons). When the etched bands retained the original gilding, it would have been visually striking.

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