Artwork Page for Cuirassier's Armor

Details / Information for Cuirassier's Armor

Cuirassier's Armor

c. 1600–20

Austria, Graz(?), early 17th century

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Medium
steel (originally blued, now black); leather straps
Measurements
Overall: 171.4 cm (67 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2012.37
Public Domain
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Location
210A Armor Court
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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.
A suit of burnished dark steel armor is depicted from head to knee against a dark gray background. At the top, a helmet with vertical slots transitions into broad shoulder guards dotted with rivets and secured by leather straps. Below a pointed breastplate, overlapping horizontal metal plates flare outward to form long leg guards ending in rounded knee pieces. Articulated arms with flared elbows end in jointed metal gauntlets resting near the waist.

Cuirassier's Armor

c. 1600–20

Austria, Graz(?), early 17th century

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