ARMOR OF THE LATE XVI CENTURY: DECORATED ARMOR
By the middle of the sixteenth century the techniques of the armorer were fully developed. From the smelters he was able to obtain iron in good-sized lumps, and he had learned so to weld it as to produce plates of any desired size. He could keep it soft and malleable or could add minute amounts of carbon and thus convert it into steel, which he could, by heat treatment, give any desired degree of hardness. He no longer bothered to harden the surface of his breastplate and helmets to the glassy hardness which was the pride of the Gothic armorers, but he made good, reasonably homogeneous mild steel which was hard enough for sword or dagger blades, yet tough enough to avoid brittleness. He could hammer his metal into even the most fantastic shapes, could color or gild it, or could inlay it with precious metals. Armorers began to vie with one another to produce magnificent and elaborate armor; many and strange were the results. Instead of only one kind of armor, as in the past, there were three: military, tournament and parade armor.
In the military armor, intended for actual fighting, taste was usually conservative. Extravagances, such as excessively wide or narrow sollerets, over-elaborate elbow guards, or extremely large shoulder guards, were avoided. A moderate amount of decoration was considered quite permissible, provided it did not lessen the functionality of the armor; such decoration most frequently was in the form of etching.
Fig. 11. A breastplate decorated with etched ornament against a black background.
Fig. 12. A morion with etched decoration. Handsome, but rather top-heavy.
Although we are accustomed to think of etching primarily in connection with pictures on paper, the process seems to have originated with the armorers. They would take a helmet or breastplate, paint it all over with a heavy acid-proof varnish, scratch a design through this varnish with a sharp needle, then place the metal in a bath of acid. The acid would eat away the steel where the varnish had been scratched, but not elsewhere. After the plate had been taken from the acid and the varnish removed, the etched part would show dark against the polished surface of the steel. This contrast could be heightened by rubbing in a little black pigment, and the early armorers discovered that they could readily keep a record of their work or a sample sheet to show other customers, by simply placing a piece of paper against the etched and blackened surface and rubbing it. The fresh black would stick to the paper, giving a clear impression of the etched design. Masters of etching like Rembrandt used and modern etchers still use essentially the same process.
Fig. 13. A closed helmet with etching. Though heavier, it is more comfortable than [Fig. 12], since its weight rests partly on the shoulders.
The Museum has a number of good examples of etched armor. In [Fig. 11] we see a breastplate with etched designs of military trophies and mythological figures. [Fig. 12] shows a helmet, formerly in the collections of the Baron de Cosson and Henry G. Keasbey, of the type called morion, with an exceedingly high comb and similar etched decoration. [Fig. 13] shows a typical closed helmet of the mid-sixteenth century. Like the morion, it has a high, elaborately etched comb. The wearer’s face was protected by two plates, an upper one called the vizor, which has a narrow horizontal slit for vision like the salade described on [page 9], and a lower called the ventail which has holes and vertical slits for ventilation. Both are pivoted at the ears, so that the vizor could be raised alone or vizor and ventail together, yet at the appearance of danger both could be snapped down into position with a single sweep of the gauntleted hand. The etching on this helmet shows floral arabesques and leaping stags against a background, not blackened, but gilt. Such gilding was done by rubbing the freshly etched surface with a mixture of gold and mercury, then heating the metal to evaporate the mercury and leave behind the gold firmly attached to the steel.
Fig. 14. A heavy helmet especially designed for the tournament. The man who wore this was about as safe as armor could make him.
Tournament armor, used in the toughest, most exciting sport that man has ever invented, was worn for comparatively short periods of time, and could, therefore, be considerably heavier than the military armor which a man might have to wear continuously. Decoration on the armor itself was reduced to a minimum, although elaborate trappings of cloth and feathers were often added to it. [Fig. 14] shows a helmet for use in a form of tournament conducted according to Italian rules, in which the contestants were separated by a fence which prevented their horses from colliding, thus permitting unrestricted speed of attack. The helmet is very solid and sturdy, with plain polished surfaces to deflect the opposing lance-point. Notice the circular hollow rim at the neck. This closed over an outward-turned rim on the throat defense (colletin) so that although the helmet could be turned to either side following the motion of the wearer’s head, it could not separate from the body armor at the throat and leave an opening for hostile spear or sword point.
Fig. 15. A parade shield, etched and gilded. Italian, XVI century.
Fig. 16. A parade helmet, probably made in Germany for the Hungarian or Polish market.
Fig. 17. A gauntlet of solid steel which is almost as flexible as chamois skin.
Parade armor was the lightest yet the most elaborate of all. Not intended for actual combat in either war or sport, it did not require the fundamental functionality of the other types; the armorers were free to follow their fancy and make the decoration as elaborate as they pleased. All methods were used. Etching and gilding were extensive and in addition the metal was embossed or chased in the most fanciful forms. In addition to the flat mercury gilding, gold was applied by the damascene process, either the “true” damascene in which plates or wires of gold (or silver) were actually inlaid into undercut grooves in the steel much as a dentist would fill a tooth, or the “false” damascene in which the precious metal was applied in the form of foil and rubbed onto the steel surface which had previously been roughened by tool work to produce innumerable tiny sharp points which could be burnished down to hold the foil firmly in place.
Fig. 18. A painted shield for a pageant or fancy-dress parade. Hungarian, XV century.
Specimens of the simpler parade armor, with etched and gilded ornament against a background colored a warm brown, are the shield shown in [Fig. 15] and the helmet of [Fig. 16]. A mitten-gauntlet of the second half of the sixteenth century from the Clarence Mackay collection and formerly from the Imperial Russian Collection in the Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg ([Fig. 17]) is an example of the work of the British Royal Armory at Greenwich, which made numerous finely decorated suits of armor for the nobles of the court of Queen Elizabeth. This gauntlet is a magnificent specimen of engineering skill as applied to the design of armor; its construction allows complete freedom to the wrist, knuckle, and finger joints, yet keeps the hand perfectly protected in any position. The gauntlet is decorated with an etched design of rising eagles in interlaced medallions against a dotted background; the latter is partly black, partly gilded.
An entirely different type of parade armor is the shield of [Fig. 18]. It is made of wood, covered on the inside with leather, on the outside with canvas painted with a small coat of arms and a large representation of two unarmored men in mortal combat. This shield also was formerly in the Clarence H. Mackay collection.
Fig. 19. These stirrups are made of carved bronze, completely gilded.
Another example of parade equipment in a different medium is a pair of stirrups ([Fig. 19]) made of bronze and elaborately carved and gilded. They were formerly in the Spitzer collection.