Breastplate with Etched Bands of Trophies and Medallions (c. 1550–1600): Art, History and Details

Breastplate with Etched Bands of Trophies and Medallions (c. 1550–1600) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Shown here together is a burgonet, buffe, and breastplate all decorated with a technique known as etching. A burgonet is a light open helmet characterized by a peak, a fall over the eyes, and hinged earpieces. The face is protected by the addition of a buffe, a sperate detachable element worn with the open helmet that extends to the throat. It connects to the breastplate which protects the abdomen and is worn with a backplate.

Object facts

• Title: Breastplate with Etched Bands of Trophies and Medallions
• Date: c. 1550–1600
• Culture: North Italy, 16th century
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: etched steel
• Dimensions: Overall: 46 x 34.7 x 15.9 cm (18 1/8 x 13 11/16 x 6 1/4 in.)
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1916.1654

A detail from the museum

Etching is a technique where either the design or its ground is bitten into the metal surface with acid, the rest being protected by a protective wax or varnish.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• Catalogue of Arms and Armour. Vol. 3, 16th century. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], [1900-1915].
• "Front Matter." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 5, no. 5 (1918).
• 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.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.