Armor and Arms: An elementary handbook and guide to the collection in the City Art Museum of St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.Hoopes, Thomas T.
History
Armor and Arms: An elementary handbook and guide to the collection in the City Art Museum of St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.
Hoopes, Thomas T.
Armor -- Catalogs; Weapons -- Catalogs
The helmet of Fig. 9 is of a type called _salade_. It is a simple steel
hat, like that of a modern soldier, and originally had a padded lining.
Unlike the modern military helmet, however, it covers the head down to
the end of the nose; there is a narrow slit in front of the eyes which
permits surprisingly good vision while leaving the eyes quite well
protected. The lines of this helmet are clean and elegant, typical of
the “Gothic” style. This type of helmet was often worn in combination
with an upstanding guard for the lower part of the face which was
attached to the top of the neck-defense. The lower edge of the helmet
overlapped the upper edge of this face-guard; thus the entire face was
protected, yet the wearer had reasonable ventilation and could obtain
more when circumstances permitted by taking off his helmet.
“MAXIMILIAN” ARMOR
At the beginning of the sixteenth century the most important single
personality in Europe was probably King (later Emperor) Maximilian I of
Germany and Austria. A contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci, he lived at a
time when versatility was one of the characteristics of an educated man,
and as sovereign he set his subjects a good example in this respect. He
wrote books on genealogy, hunting and woodsmanship, horse breeding,
architecture, and landscape gardening. He was greatly interested in arms
and armor, and frequently visited his court armorer in his workshop. It
is not surprising, therefore, that he had a great influence on the
design of armor, and that the new and sharply different fashion which
appeared at this time became known as the “Maximilian”. It was
characterized by parallel, or almost parallel, fluting, especially on
breastplate and thigh guards, by broad-toed foot guards (_sollerets_) as
compared with the long pointed toes of the Gothic period, and by
strongly roped edges of the plates. The City Art Museum has an excellent
suit of Maximilian armor (Fig. 10). The breastplate, thigh guards
(_tassets_) and main shell of the helmet illustrate the characteristic
flutings, while the sollerets are fully developed Maximilian style. The
suit was made in Nuremberg in the first quarter of the sixteenth
century, and was formerly in the armory of Prince Liechtenstein.
[Illustration: _Fig. 10. A full suit of Maximilian armor from the
early sixteenth century._]
ARMOR OF THE LATE XVI CENTURY: DECORATED ARMOR
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