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Armor

ca. 1400–1450 and later
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 373
This armor was assembled and restored in the 1920s using individual elements that had been discovered in the ruins of the Venetian fortress at Chalcis, on the Greek island of Euboea, which had fallen to the Turks in 1470. The purpose was to present a full armor of the style worn about 1400, a period from which no complete armors survive. Distinctive features are the early form of brigandine (a torso defense constructed of numerous overlapping plates riveted inside a doublet) with two large breast halves and brass borders at the edges of the exposed plates. Portions of the brass at the top edge of the left cuisse (thigh defense), the lower edges of the right greave (lower leg defense), and the visor are genuine; the remainder is restored. The helmet, a visored bascinet, is associated with the armor. The velvet covering of the brigandine dates from the early 20th century.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Armor
  • Date: ca. 1400–1450 and later
  • Culture: Italian
  • Medium: Steel, copper alloy, textile, leather
  • Dimensions: H. 66 1/2 in. (168.9 cm), Wt. 41 lb. (18.6 kg)
  • Classification: Armor for Man
  • Credit Line: Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Gift of Helen Fahnestock Hubbard, in memory of her father, Harris C. Fahnestock, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.154.3
  • Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Elements of an Italian Light-Cavalry Armor <i>alla Tedesca</i> (in the German Fashion), Steel, gold, copper alloy, leather, Italian, Milan
Elements of an Italian Light-Cavalry Armor alla Tedesca (in the German Fashion)
Italian, Milan
ca. 1510
Field Armor of King Henry VIII of England (reigned 1509–47), Steel, gold, textile, leather, Italian, Milan or Brescia

Field Armor of King Henry VIII of England (reigned 1509–47)

Italian, Milan or Brescia
ca. 1544
Sallet in the Shape of a Lion's Head, Steel, copper, gold, glass, pigment, textile, Italian
Sallet in the Shape of a Lion's Head
Italian
ca. 1475–80
Armet, LIONARDO Italian, Steel, copper alloy, Italian, probably Milan
Armet
LIONARDO
ca. 1440
Burgonet, Filippo Negroli Italian, Steel, gold, textile, Italian, Milan
Burgonet
Filippo Negroli
dated 1543

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