Elements from a Partial Suit of Armor (c. 1510–30): Art, History and Details

Elements from a Partial Suit of Armor (c. 1510–30) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This partial suit of armor contains a close helmet, breastplate, and backplate. Below the breast plate is the fauld, plates of armor that extend below the breastplate to protect the waist and hips. The breastplate includes a lance rest, a metal flange that could be brought down when needed. The lance rest helps spread the impact of a blow through the breastplate to the torso of the wearer, thus redirecting the force of the blow away from the hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder. The helmet is a true "close helmet"; it pivots open at the rivets on the side and completely protects the face when lowered.

Object facts

• Title: Elements from a Partial Suit of Armor
• Date: c. 1510–30
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: steel with black paint
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1923.1067

A detail from the museum

Unfortunately the remainder of this suit of armor has been lost to history.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• American Art Association. Illustrated Catalogue of Ancient Arms and Armor, Stained Glass, Coffrets and Furniture, Authentic Specimens, in Nearly All Instances European. New York: American Art Association, 1923.
• 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.
• Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.

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.