# Field Armor for Man

- By: South German, Nuremberg
- Date: c. 1520
- Medium: Steel, iron, brass, leather, and textile
- Classification: Armor
- Dimensions: H.: 188 cm (74 in.)
- Culture: Nuremberg
- Credit line: George F. Harding Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/116363)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/0b992dcc-d94b-d47d-f1e3-88c1ceb024bd/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Skillfully forged of steel, this composite armor achieves its beauty with the simple elegance of its austere lines and form rather than its surface decoration. The armor was expertly crafted for protection: the smooth, rounded shape, breastplate with a pronounced vertical ridge down the center, and heavy roping (turned edge etched with lines) at the upper edge of the breastplate functioned to deflect sword thrusts and glancing blows. Thick roping on the gauntlet knuckles acted as added protection. The helmet, with its smooth, rounded form, was shaped to deflect downward blows away from the head. The bracket attached to the right breastplate is called the lance rest, a shock-absorbing support designed to hold the lance when it was couched under the right armpit.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0