
Collection Online as of January 27, 2023
Steel (originally blued, now russet), etched and gilded strapwork bands;
Overall: 42.3 x 35 cm (16 5/8 x 13 3/4 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1521
ArtLens Exhibition A
This style of breastplate, with its numerous articulating lames, was probably used by a Hungarian hussar, a type of light cavalryman. The steel plates were originally blued-now turned russet-and etched and gilded with strapwork bands. The rows of vertical holes once provided gilt-brass settings for stones or glasspaste jewels. The effect would have suggested the semi-oriental costume and armor of the Near East favored by Polish and Hungarian armies of the late Renaissance.