Body Guard (Brigandine)
1495–1530
- Medium
- linen; gold velvet; steel; brass
- Dimensions
- Overall: 56.5 x 47.6 cm (22 1/4 x 18 3/4 in.)
- Genre
- Arms and armor
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Tags
Italy, early 16th Century
About
The brigandine is a light, vest-like body defense popular with both knights and infantry from the 1400s through about 1550. It is constructed of multiple small plates attached to a cloth covering. Finer examples, like this one, are faced in velvet or fabric made of gold thread. The lightweight brigandine provided protection from the weather, and was extremely flexible.