NARRATOR: The objects in these three cases come from a group that was discovered in the ruins of a Venetian fortress in the city of Chalcis, on the Greek Island of Euboea. The fortress had been destroyed in 1470. Curator Donald LaRocca.

DONALD LAROCCA: It contains examples of body armor from the fifteenth century used in the Aegean that survive almost no place else. Take a look at the case on your left. In this case, we have some of the types of helmets that are unique to the Chalcis Find, elements of body armor that would’ve protected the chest and the back, and pieces for the arms, the legs, and the hands.

The armor in the center was put together in the early twentieth century, under the direction of Bashford Dean, the first curator of the department. He used individual elements from the Chalcis Find to assemble into one complete armor, the way a fossil skeleton would be assembled at the Museum of Natural History, where Dean was also a curator. At the same time, the majority of the Chalcis pieces he left completely untouched in their original condition. So on some of them, particularly in the case on the left, you can see traces of the original textile which survives on almost no other pieces from that period.

NARRATOR: The Chalcis Group was one of Dean’s important early acquisitions for the Museum. Press PLAY to hear more about Dean and the founding of the Arms and Armor Department.