75610 m1368

‘St. Michael’ by Perugino, c. 1500. This painting forms the left wing of a triptych of the Madonna and Child. It portrays fine Italian armour of the late I5th century, although the saint’s shield is entirely fanciful. (National Gallery, inv. 288, London)

Ursula’, by Carpacchio, 1490-93, Acad. Gallery, Yenice; Venetian sword, c. 1500, Bargello, Florence; Pisanello’s pencil sketches of the By-zantine Emperor’s retinue, mid-i5th century, Chicago Art Institute.)

Gj: Yenetian heavy infantryman, late iyth century Heavily armoured soldiers had a vital role, both at sea and on the land, in the armies of Venice. This man’s eąuipment is strictly European, though the turban round his helmet probably reflects current Venetian orientalized fashions. His helmet is also unusual in having a long curved nasal. He carries a typically large infantry shield and wields a long-hafted war-hammer designed to penetrate armour. He also wears a brigandine, a very flexible version of the coat-of-plates, over his mail hauberk. (‘Life of St. Ursula’, by Carpaccio, 1490-93, Acad. Gallery, Venice.)

H: The Imasion of Italy

Hi: Spanish man-at-arms, end of the lyth century The heavily armed infantrymen of Spain were to become the most feared and effective troops in Europę. Their tactics had been perfected in wars that united Spain and their eąuipment was often heavier than that of Spain’s famous light cavalry who fought a la jineta in Moorish style. This reversed the normal European practice where heavy cavalry were supported by lighter infantry. He wears a cabacete helmet and a barbote rigid neck-guard. His weapon is a pole-axe designed to combat cavalry. (Monument of Infante Alfonso, c. 1490, Cartuja de Miraflores, Burgos; Spanish helmet and barbote, late i5th century, Pauillac Coli., Paris; Spanish armour c.i50o(?), Musee de 1’Armee, Paris.)

H2: Italian knight, end of the 1 yth century This period saw what many regard as the peak of Italian armour design. Unlike the best German armours, with their almost barbarie abundance of decoration, late 15th and early i6th century Italian armours were as stark and functional as a modern warplane. Notę the scientifically shaped gauntlets protecting his wrists, the large couters with their different shapes to protect the elbows of his left (bridle) and right (sword) arms, plus the large gardbrace with its vertical haute-piece covering his left shoulder and neck. (Armour from the Sanctuary of Madonna delle Grazie, Ducal Pałace, Mantua; ‘St Florian’, by Zaganelli, 1499, Brera Gallery, Milan; ‘W arrior’, by Vivarini, c. 1480, Uffizi, Florence.)