Skip to Content
Today Open today 10–11 members | 11–8 public

Garniture for Field and Foot Tourney at the Barriers

Steel breastplate armor and helmet with brass stripe trim.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • Steel breastplate armor and helmet with brass stripe trim.

Date:

c. 1575

Artist:

Northern Italian, Milan

About this artwork

In the 16th century, Italian armorers produced spectacular armor garnitures for noblemen, professional officers, and bodyguards in the service of princely courts. An armor garniture consisted of many matching, interchangeable pieces that could be added or removed from basic field armor to make it suitable for different occasions. Like jousting armor, this armor for foot tourneys at the barriers—a sporting event in which knights on foot approached each other on opposite sides of a barrier—is quite specialized. It includes a close helmet that locked onto and rotated on the gorget (collar) and asymmetrical pauldrons (shoulder defenses) that provided maneuverability and protection from thrusting across the barrier. The blemish on the helmet of this armor, just above the eye slit, is the result of a glancing blow. This armor, embellished with gilded radiating bands contrasted with steel bands, as well as the Three-Quarter Armor, belonged to the Spanish Marquesses de Dos Aguas.

Status

On View, Gallery 239

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Title

Garniture for Field and Foot Tourney at the Barriers

Place

Milan (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1560–1590

Medium

Steel with gilding, brass, leather, velvet weave, and lace

Dimensions

H. 96.5 cm (38 in.) Wt: 38 lb. 13 oz.

Credit Line

George F. Harding Collection

Reference Number

1982.2172a-o

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/106279/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share