The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Cuirassier's Armor

Cuirassier's Armor

c. 1600–20

Did You Know?

This suit of armor is just over 5 1/2 feet tall.

Description

The cuirassier was the heavy cavalryman of the late 1500s and early 1600s. Carrying pistols and a sword, he was clad in full armor, like this suit, with the exception of his lower legs, which were protected by heavy riding boots. Shortly after 1650, such heavy cavalry armor disappeared from use. By then, European cavalries had abandoned full armor as impractical against the increased sophistication of firearms. Similar armors survive in the Armory of Graz, Austria.
  • Archduke Eugen of Austria, the Castle of Hohenwerfen, near Salzburg; Anderson Galleries, New York (1927); William Randolph Hearst (1956); David Norton Yerkes, Washington, DC; to his daughter, Catharine Y. Kulski [by inheritance]
  • Arms and Armor from Imperial Austria. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-June 1, 2008).
  • {{cite web|title=Cuirassier's Armor|url=false|author=|year=c. 1600–20|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2012.37