NARRATOR: Take a close look at the delicate designs on this Milanese armor. They were created using several specialized techniques. Curator Pierre Terjanian.

PIERRE TERJANIAN: Other armors in these galleries are etched. And this one is done exclusively with engraving, and with what we call damascening. The technique for the decoration was to use sharp tools and engrave and incise the surface of the metal. And then, very carefully, silver and gold was applied to the surface after it had been scratched. It would just be applied and burnished and stay in place.

This armor, as you can see from its proportions, was not made for an adult. It was made for a boy, possibly about fifteen-years-old. An armor like this, which is beautifully forged, which is made of thick steel, would have been serviceable for war. But the likelihood is that an armor of this type for a young man would have been primarily used for practice, and for representational purposes. The idea being that a young prince, who has not yet reached the age of governing personally, is nevertheless signaling his position and his bright future to everyone by owning an armor that is of the quality of a ruling sovereign.