NARRATOR: Stuart Pyhrr.

STUART PYHRR: We’re looking at a breast and back plate of a knightly armor to be worn on horseback, originally. The two holes on the right side of the breast plate indicate the former presence of a lance rest. It’s etched across the front of the breastplate with the Virgin and Child in the center, with St. George the patron saint of knights on the proper right side, and St. Christopher and the infant Christ Child on the left. St. Christopher was the patron of travelers and most knights, as we know, were peripatetic. The inclusion of saints or holy figures in the decoration of armor had a practical purpose, like St. Christopher on the dashboard of a car. It was intended as a protective form of decoration, alluding to the piety of the wearer and his desire for protection from above.

On the back plate, we have St. Anne with the Virgin and the Christ Child in the center, and then St. James the Greater on the proper left side and St. Sebastian on the proper right side. The technique of etching dates from the thirteenth century. The etching on armor actually occurs before it is used as a graphic medium on paper. One of the earliest and most prominent German graphic artists, Daniel Hopfer, may be responsible for the creation of this etching.