Cleveland Museum of Art

Left Arm Elements from a Boy's Armor (Lower Cannon, Couter, Rerebrace)

Date

c. 1560 (some modern)

Medium

etched and lightly embossed steel with traces of gilding, leather

Culture

Germany, Augsburg, mostly 17th Century (some modern)

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

These elements once belonged to a full suit of armor that would have been made for a young boy. Decorated with etching, embossing, and gilding, the original suit would have been impressive. Dressing your sons in small custom suits of armor was popular with the wealthiest nobles. They would have been worn for parades and ceremonial occasions and once outgrown were often kept as mementos. Made for the left arm, the rerebrace or upper cannon protected the upper arm, the couter the elbow, and the lower cannon the forearm. Small-scale suits of armor would help prepare a young boy for knighthood.

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