Subject: Trabantengarde noble bodyguard
Culture: German Saxon
Setting: Reformation, Germany late 16th-17thc
Object: Rüstung armor
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms & Armor
"Half Armor
Blued steel
German (Nuremberg), 1610-20
Although entirely made in Nuremberg, this light cuirassier's armor is an interesting mix of regional styles. The helmet is based on an eastern European type known as the Zischägge, which was inspired by Turkish examples. The pauldrons (shoulder defenses) with their overlapping, fan-like plates are of a type associated with Swiss armors of the period.
"The armor is stamped with the Nuremberg mark and an armorer's mark -- a shield containing the letters MSI above a pair of shears -- that has been attributed to Martin Schneider the Younger. This mark is also found on several helmets made for the dukes of Saxony."* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms & Armor
"Foot-Combat Armor of Prince-Elector Christian I of Saxony
Steel, etched, blued, and gilt; leather; gilt bronze
Anton Peffenhauser (1525-1603); decoration attributed to Jorg Sorg the Younger (about 1522-1603)
German (Augsburg), 1591
This is one of a set of twelve matching armors for foot combat commissioned in 1591 by Sophie of Brandenburg as a Christmas gift for her husband, Christian I (reigned 1586-91). These armors were among the last commissions of Anton Peffenhauser, the leading Augsburg armorer during the second half of the sixteenth century.
"Combat on foot between contestants separated by a waist-high barrier was a popular sport in European courts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It could be staged indoors or out and was fought with pikes and swords, for each of which a prescribed number of blows was allowed. The presence of the barrier and strict rules prohibiting strikes below the belt made leg armor unnecessary."
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms & Armor
"Gauntlet Steel, engraved, silvered, and gilt; brass; leather German, late 16th century"
* Higgins Armory Museum > Great Hall
"Comb Morion, about 1590 German (Nuremberg) For the guards of Christian or Christian II, Electors of Saxony Blackened steel with etched and gilded decoration; brass; leather Weight: 4 lbs." ...
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