Cleveland Museum of Art

Gothic Breastplate

Date

late 1400s

Medium

steel

Culture

South Germany or Austria, Innsbruck, late 15th century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This elegantly constructed breastplate consists of two primary plates of steel fastened at center by a rivet. The lower plate is embellished with a border of embossed flutes that converge upward and terminate in a fleur-de-lys. The pair of rivet holes in the upper right breast accommodated a lance rest, now lost. As a result of the introduction of plate armor, the shield became superfluous and gradually disappeared from use.

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