Fig. 81.—Etruscan Bronze Statuette with Plated Cuirass. 1:4.
Fig. 82.—A Soldier Putting on his Cuirass.
Cuirass.—The earliest metal cuirass consisted of two bronze plates roughly shaped to fit the body, and fastened together at the sides and shoulders. The bottom edge was turned up so as not to cut the hips. The Greek statuette from Dodona (No. 185, fig. 66) shows the form. It was contemporary with the Corinthian helmet in Greece, and was probably discarded there for the same reason, that it was as much a burden as a protection. In Italy it had a longer life, but in an improved shape which is represented in Italian vase-painting (fig. 80), and is shown here in the cast of an Etruscan statuette (No. 201), as well as in some actual specimens from Italy (Nos. 210, 211, 212). These fit closely to the body, of which the form is moulded in free style on the metal plates, and the bottom edge follows the line of the waist. A fringe of leather was often attached to the rim. The fastenings are rings for lacing, and pins in sockets which serve either as hinges or clasps. The other cuirass was generally used in Greece from the beginning of the fifth century B.C. An Etruscan statuette in the Bronze Room shows every detail of the type (fig. 81). It was made of leather plated with bronze, with shoulder-straps to buckle down upon the breast. In scenes of the arming of soldiers, for instance on a vase by the painter Douris, at Vienna (fig. 82), the method of putting on this cuirass is often represented, and the construction of the various parts is shown. The bronze plating might be in the form of square tabs or round scales. Two fragments of such plating are exhibited (No. 213, fig. 83, right). The larger consists of six plates of bronze with the lower edge scalloped, sewn with wire on a leathern coat, and overlapping in such a way as everywhere to present three thicknesses of metal. The leather of this example is modern. The other is of five much smaller scales, similarly wired together. The larger fragment is from France, the smaller from Oxyrhynchus, in Egypt. Some pieces of heavier bronze plating, one of them still clasping a shrivelled tongue of leather, may have served as the long tabs which form a skirt to this cuirass. They were excavated at Kertch in the Crimea (No. 214, fig. 83, left).
Fig. 83.—Bronze Plating from Cuirasses (Nos. 214, 213). 3:5.
A peculiar Italian type is represented by a triangular bronze breastplate filled with three circles in relief (No. 215). This breastplate often appears on third-century vases of South Italian fabric, and a number of such plates have been found in tombs of the beginning of the Iron Age. It is therefore an ancient pattern, but this example is contemporary with the vases (fig. 84).
Another piece of native Italian fashion is the metal belt (No. 216) which is also represented in vase paintings of the third century B.C. (fig. 84). It was worn with the triangular breastplate. Rows of holes along the edges show that the belts were lined with cloth or leather. The fastening is simple, one end hooking into the other. Many elaborate hooks are exhibited (No. 217). Two oval bronze plaques (No. 218) may have belonged to belts of different type.
Fig. 84.—Vase Paintings showing Italian Breastplate and Metal Belt.