Pommel Plate of a Saddle (from the Garniture of Rudolf II)
Medium
blued, etched, and gilded steel
Dimensions
31.3 × 17 cm
Classification
Arms and Armor
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance
Accession Number
1916.1888.2
Tags
male
About this artwork
This plate, one of two and once part of a saddle, is from tournament armor made for man and horse made for the sons of Emperor Maximilian II, archdukes Rudolf and Ernst. Most of the remaining elements of this armor are still in the collections of the Imperial Armouries in Vienna. The decorative pattern (in the imperial colors of black and gold) forms elegant knots, with distinctive foliage and hop sprigs filling the loops.