The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 29, 2025

Breastplate from Hussar's Cuirass

c. 1580
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
Location: 001A ArtLens Exhibition

Did You Know?

The breastplate’s contours, like the ridge down the center, were designed to deflect arrows and other projectiles.

Description

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.
  • Constantinople Armory
    Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), New York, NY
    ?-1916
    Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900. cat. no. 398 archive.org
    Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924. Mentioned: pp. 63-64, C8 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. pp. 86, 163; cat no. 19
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. cat. no. 26, p. 183
  • Artlens Exhibition 2019. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer).
    Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Breastplate from Hussar's Cuirass|url=false|author=|year=c. 1580|access-date=29 April 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1521