id:			96064
accession number:	1916.1804.b
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1804.b
updated:		2023-03-03 07:01:12.109000

Breastplate, c. 1540. Germany, 16th century. Steel; overall: 43.8 x 36.9 cm (17 1/4 x 14 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1804.b

title:				Breastplate
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1540
creation date earliest:		1535
creation date latest:		1545
current location:		210A Armor Court
creditline:			Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance
copyright:			

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culture:	Germany, 16th century
technique:	steel
department:	Medieval Art
collection:	MED - Arms & Armor
type:		Arms and Armor
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 43.8 x 36.9 cm (17 1/4 x 14 1/2 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Armor Court Reinstallation
	opening date:   1998-09-10T00:00:00
	<i>Armor Court Reinstallation</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: -1916
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1916-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
The decoration along the edge is known as a roped edge.

digital description:


wall description:
The breastplate protects the chest and abdomen and is normally worn with a backplate.  This one features a lance rest which start to appear as early as the late 1300s.  The purpose of the lance rest is not to bear the weight of the lance.  Instead allows a mounted warrior to hold the lance firmly couched under his right arm and stops it from sliding backward.  If the target is hit the lance rest also acts as a shock absorber, preventing the lance from shooting backward and dispersing the impact via the breastplate all over the upper body rather than leaving it concentrated on the hand.  When not needed it can be folded up so that is is out of the way.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	<em>Catalogue of Arms and Armour. </em>[Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900.
	page number: 	cat.# 306
	url:		

	Cleveland Museum of Art, and Helen Ives Gilchris<em>t. Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor</em>. Cleveland, O.: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925.
	page number: 	Cat. no. A7
	url:		https://archive.org/details/HandbookArmsArmor

	Fliegel, Stephen N.<em> Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.
	page number: 	cat. no. 34, p. 164
	url:		

	Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>Arms &amp; Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
	page number: 	cat. no. 22, p. 183.
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1804.b/1916.1804.b_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1804.b/1916.1804.b_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1804.b/1916.1804.b_full.tif