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Fashion in European Armor

• 
  Elements of a Light-Cavalry Armor, ca. 1505–10
  Christian Schreiner the Younger (Mühlau, recorded 1499–1528)
  Austrian (Innsbruck/Mühlau)
  Steel
  Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, in honor of Helmut Nickel, 1991 (1991.4)
  
• 
  Armor, ca. 1400 and later
  Italian
  Steel, brass, textile; H. 66 1/2 in. (168.9 cm)
  Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Gift of Helen Fahnestock Hubbard, in memory of her father, Harris C. Fahnestock, 1929 (29.154.3)
  
• 
  Elements of a Light-Cavalry Armor, ca. 1510
  Italian (Milan)
  Steel, etched and gilded; Wt. 19 lb. 13 oz. (9kg)
  Gift of William H. Riggs, 1913 (14.25.716)
  
• 
  Sallet in the Shape of a Lion's Head, 1470–80
  Italian
  Steel, copper-gilt, glass, polychromy; H. 11 3/4 in. (30 cm), Wt. 8 lb. 4 oz. (3.7 kg)
  Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1923 (23.141)
  
• 

  Aquamanile in the Form of a Knight on Horseback, mid-13th century
  German (Lower Saxony, probably Hildesheim)
  Copper alloy; 14 11/16 x 5 5/8 x 12 7/8 in. (37.3 x 14.3 x 32.7 cm)
  Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964 (64.101.1492)

• 
  Portions of a Costume Armor, ca. 1525
  Kolman Helmschmid (1471–1532)
  German (Augsburg)
  Steel, embossed, etched, and gilded
  Backplate and rump defense: Gift of Bashford Dean, 1924; Arms: Mrs. Stephen V. Harkness Fund, 1926 (24.179; 26.188.1,2)
  
• 
  Armor of George Clifford, Third Earl of Cumberland, ca. 1580–85
  Made in the Royal Workshops
  English (Greenwich)
  Steel, etched, blued, and gilded; H. 69 1/2 in. (176.5 cm), Wt. 60 lb. (27.2 kg)
  Munsey Fund, 1932 (32.130.6)
  

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Like most manmade objects, armor was subject not only to technical advances but also to changes in taste as well as aesthetic and artistic expression within each period of its development. In broad outline, this can already be witnessed in the armor worn by warriors throughout the ancient world. In medieval and Renaissance Europe, especially from the fourteenth century onward, it is apparent that armor was strongly influenced by contemporary civilian costume according to current tastes and regional fashions (in some rare instances, armor could even influence civilian fashion). Such influences and fashions could change relatively quickly, and it is probably no exaggeration to argue that, to medieval and Renaissance minds, a concept similar to our understanding of "the '50s," "the '60s," and "the '70s" for the taste of a particular age or decade would probably have been quite familiar. In addition to the influence civilian costume had on the general appearance of armor, such as form and outline, different tastes and fashions are also clearly recognizable in the decoration of armor. To some extent, finally, technical developments and constructional features could also be so confined to a certain region that they can be classified as a local or national style. The study of "fashion in armor" accordingly can provide scholars with valuable information for the dating and geographical identification of armor. The following texts will give a broad outline of fashion in European armor from the eleventh to the seventeenth century, including a selection of the most important developments as well as a number of lesser known trends.

Armor was subject not only to technical advances but also to changes in taste as well as aesthetic and artistic expression within each period of its development.

Related

Timelines (12)

• Central Europe (including Germany), 1000–1400 a.d.
• Central Europe (including Germany), 1400–1600 a.d.
• Central Europe (including Germany), 1600–1800 a.d.
• Florence and Central Italy, 1400–1600 a.d.
• Great Britain and Ireland, 1400–1600 a.d.
• Great Britain and Ireland, 1600–1800 a.d.
• Iberian Peninsula, 1000–1400 a.d.
• Iberian Peninsula, 1600–1800 a.d.
• Italian Peninsula, 1000–1400 a.d.
• Rome and Southern Italy, 1400–1600 a.d.
• Venice and Northern Italy, 1400–1600 a.d.
• Venice and Northern Italy, 1600–1800 a.d.

Primary Thematic Essays (7)

• Fashion in European Armor, 1000-1300
• Fashion in European Armor, 1300-1400
• Fashion in European Armor, 1400-1500
• Fashion in European Armor, 1500-1600
• Fashion in European Armor, 1600-1700
• The Decoration of Arms and Armor
• The Function of Armor in Medieval and Renaissance Europe

Other Thematic Essays (16)

• Arms and Armor
• Arms and Armor in Medieval Europe
• Arms and Armor in Renaissance Europe
• Early Netherlandish Painting
• Elizabethan England
• Famous Makers and European Centers of Arms and Armor Production
• Feudalism and Knights in Medieval Europe
• Fire Gilding of Arms and Armor
• Islamic Arms and Armor
• List of Rulers of Europe
• Techniques of Decoration on Arms and Armor
• The Crusades (1095–1291)
• The Decoration of European Armor
• The Decoration of Tibetan Arms and Armor
• The Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburgs, 1400-1600
• Tibetan Arms and Armor

Maps (4)

• Europe, 1000-1400 A.D.
• Europe, 1400-1600 A.D.
• Europe, 1600-1800 A.D.
• World, 1400-1600 A.D.

Index Terms (23)

Art Movement/Style

• Byzantine Art from Europe

Artist

• Cranach, Lucas, the Elder (German, 1472–1553)
• Helmschmid, Kolman (German, 1471–1532)
• Schreiner, Christian, the Younger (Muhlau, recorded 1499–1528)

Geography/Place

• Byzantium
• European Medieval Art
• European Renaissance Art
• Seventeenth– and Eighteenth–Century European Art

Material and Technique

• Brass from Europe
• Gilt Copper
• Steel
• Steel

Object

• Arms and Armor
• Body Armor
• Helmet
• Figural Vessel from Europe
• Vessel from Europe
• Vessel from West Asia

Subject Matter/Theme

• Feline
• Trade (1000–1400 a.d.)
• Trade (1400–1600 a.d.)
• Trade (1600–1800 a.d.)
• Warfare

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Dirk H. Breiding Department of Arms and Armor, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation Breiding, Dirk H. "Fashion in European Armor". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/afas/hd_afas.htm (October 2004) Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions)

These related Museum Bulletin or Journal articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship. Nickel, Helmut "An Illustrated Manuscript Inventory of an Armory for Sale by Lottery." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 41 (2006). JSTOR | PDF LaRocca, Donald J. "An English Armor for the King of Portugal." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 30 (1995). JSTOR | PDF LaRocca, Donald J. "A Neapolitan Patron of Armor and Tapestry Identified." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 28 (1993). JSTOR | PDF Nickel, Helmut "Arms and Armor: From the Permanent Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 49, no. 1 (Summer, 1991). JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs "Director’s Note" PDF "Introduction" PDF Nickel, Helmut "Carpaccio's Young Knight in a Landscape: Christian Champion and Guardian of Liberty." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 18 (1983). JSTOR | PDF Pyhrr, Stuart W. "Some Elements of Armor Attributed to Niccolò Silva." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 18 (1983). JSTOR | PDF Nickel, Helmut "Arms and Armor." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 32, no. 4 (1974). JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs "Battle Armor" PDF "Director’s Note" PDF "Gentlemen’s Jewelry" PDF "Orders of Chivalry" PDF "The Art of Chivalry" PDF "The Crusades" PDF "The Tournament" PDF Nickel, Helmut "'A Harnes all Gilte': A Study of the Armor of Galiot de Genouilhac and the Iconography of Its Decoration." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 5 (1972). JSTOR | PDF Grancsay, Stephen V. "Lucio Piccinino: Master Armorer of the Renaissance." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 22, no. 8 (April, 1964). JSTOR | PDF Grancsay, Stephen V. "Sculpture in Steel: A Milanese Renaissance Barbute." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 21, no. 5 (January, 1963). JSTOR | PDF Grancsay, Stephen V. "Royal Armorers: Antwerp or Paris?." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 18, no. 1 (Summer, 1959). JSTOR | PDF Grancsay, Stephen V. "Medieval Armor in a Prayer Book." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 16, no. 10 (June, 1958). JSTOR | PDF Grancsay, Stephen V. "The Armor of Henry II of France from the Louvre Museum." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 11, no. 2 (October, 1952). JSTOR | PDF Grancsay, Stephen V. "Museum Armor and a Van Dyck Portrait from Vienna." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 8, no. 9 (May, 1950). JSTOR | PDF