Art Institute of Chicago

Breastplate

Spanish or northern Italian

Date

1500/20

Medium

Steel

Culture

Spain

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The Italian style of plate armor with smooth surfaces dominated the tastes of most Western European courts, particular in Flanders, France, and Spain. By about 1500, breastplates were commonly produced from a single plate rather than two overlapping ones. Here the arm-and-neck opening is raised with a heavy boxed edge to divert the point of weapons. The central ridge is another feature that emerged at this time to help glance away blows.

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