The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 26, 2024

Breastplate

Breastplate

c. 1540
steel
Overall: 43.8 x 36.9 cm (17 1/4 x 14 1/2 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1804.b
Location: 210A Armor Court

Did You Know?

The decoration along the edge is known as a roped edge.

Description

The breastplate protects the chest and abdomen and is normally worn with a backplate. This one features a lance rest which start to appear as early as the late 1300s. The purpose of the lance rest is not to bear the weight of the lance. Instead allows a mounted warrior to hold the lance firmly couched under his right arm and stops it from sliding backward. If the target is hit the lance rest also acts as a shock absorber, preventing the lance from shooting backward and dispersing the impact via the breastplate all over the upper body rather than leaving it concentrated on the hand. When not needed it can be folded up so that is is out of the way.
  • -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.# 306
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Helen Ives Gilchrist. Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor. Cleveland, O.: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925. Cat. no. A7 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. cat. no. 34, p. 164
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. cat. no. 22, p. 183.
  • Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Breastplate|url=false|author=|year=c. 1540|access-date=26 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1804.b