Half Armor for the Foot Tournament
Pompeo della Cesa (Italian, active 1572–93)
c. 1590
- Medium
- etched and gilded steel, brass rivets, leather and velvet fittings
- Classification
- Arms and Armor
- Dimensions
- Overall: 31.7 x 27.7 x 21.6 cm (12 1/2 x 10 7/8 x 8 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- Italy, Milan
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Medieval Art
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This armor was designed for the foot tournament, an event that was separate from the equestrian jousts popularized during the Middle Ages and still favored among Renaissance aristocracies throughout Europe. Foot tournaments were commonly fought over a barrier that separated the combatants and gave protection to their legs, so a half-armor such as this one provided sufficient protection. The original owner of this suit would have worn it with colorful puffed and slashed britches and hose. The use of outlandish accessories, such as a large ostrich feather plume (a brass plume holder may be seen on the back of the helmet) and red velvet pickadils between the steel plates, provided additional splendor.
