Breastplate from Hussar's Cuirass
Unknown Artist
c. 1580
Medium
Steel (originally blued, now russet), etched and gilded strapwork bands;
Dimensions
42.3 × 35 cm
Classification
Arms and Armor
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance
Accession Number
1916.1521
About this artwork
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.