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Armor for Man and Horse with Völs-Colonna Arms
Unknown maker (North Italy), c. 1575
A knight relied on his horse as both a weapon and a defence, so the horse needed protection too. According to the Cleveland Museum of Art, knights covered their horses first in fabric and then in mail from the 1100s on, and by about 1400 full steel plate armour for horses was complete.
This suit for man and horse may once have been part of a garniture, an armour with interchangeable parts that could convert it for battle or for tournament games. The combined weight of the man's and horse's armour is 114 pounds.
The etched decoration is of a type that became fashionable in northern Italy in the late 1500s, with bands of figures, animals, portrait busts and trophies of arms. A coat of arms appears seven times in different places. The armour is steel, and the museum dates it to about 1575.
From the museum record
| Artist | Unknown maker (North Italy) |
|---|---|
| Date | c. 1575 |
| Medium | Steel |
| Museum | The Cleveland Museum of Art |
| Credit line | John L. Severance Fund |
| Accession number | 1964.88 |
| Licence | Open Access (CC0) |
Source: The Cleveland Museum of Art collection record. Facts such as dates, sizes and credit lines come from that record. The write-up above was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the museum record and standard references. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
