Cleveland Museum of Art

Gothic Mitten Gauntlet for the Right Hand

Date

c. 1490

Medium

steel

Culture

South Germany or Austria (Innsbruck), late 15th Century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The forging of steel, a very hard material, into precisely fitted, interconnected plates was a task that required great skill and patience. The elements of a suit were never riveted directly together which would make them inflexible. Instead they slightly overlapped and were attached by different types of rivets. Embossed decoration adds beauty to this gauntlet that would have protected the hand.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.