The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 14, 2024

Gothic Breastplate

Gothic Breastplate

late 1400s
steel
Overall: 53.2 x 35.2 x 16.3 cm (20 15/16 x 13 7/8 x 6 7/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1720
Location: 210A Armor Court

Did You Know?

As a result of the introduction of plate armor, the shield became superfluous and gradually disappeared from use.

Description

This elegantly constructed breastplate consists of two primary plates of steel fastened at center by a rivet. The lower plate is embellished with a border of embossed flutes that converge upward and terminate in a fleur-de-lys. The pair of rivet holes in the upper right breast accommodated a lance rest, now lost.
  • Thill, Vienna
    ?-1916
    Frank Gair Macomber; Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • 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: p. 61, C2; Reproduced: Plate XII, C2 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Helen Ives Gilchrist. Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor. 2d ed., 1948. Reproduction: p. 33 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. p. 46, 164; cat. no. 32
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
  • Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Gothic Breastplate |url=false|author=|year=late 1400s|access-date=14 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1720