By the middle of the sixteenth century the techniques of the armorer
were fully developed. From the smelters he was able to obtain iron in
good-sized lumps, and he had learned so to weld it as to produce plates
of any desired size. He could keep it soft and malleable or could add
minute amounts of carbon and thus convert it into steel, which he could,
by heat treatment, give any desired degree of hardness. He no longer
bothered to harden the surface of his breastplate and helmets to the
glassy hardness which was the pride of the Gothic armorers, but he made
good, reasonably homogeneous mild steel which was hard enough for sword
or dagger blades, yet tough enough to avoid brittleness. He could hammer
his metal into even the most fantastic shapes, could color or gild it,
or could inlay it with precious metals. Armorers began to vie with one
another to produce magnificent and elaborate armor; many and strange
were the results. Instead of only one kind of armor, as in the past,
there were three: military, tournament and parade armor.
In the military armor, intended for actual fighting, taste was usually
conservative. Extravagances, such as excessively wide or narrow
sollerets, over-elaborate elbow guards, or extremely large shoulder
guards, were avoided. A moderate amount of decoration was considered
quite permissible, provided it did not lessen the functionality of the
armor; such decoration most frequently was in the form of etching.
[Illustration: _Fig. 11. A breastplate decorated with etched
ornament against a black background._]
[Illustration: _Fig. 12. A morion with etched decoration. Handsome,
but rather top-heavy._]
Although we are accustomed to think of etching primarily in connection
with pictures on paper, the process seems to have originated with the
armorers. They would take a helmet or breastplate, paint it all over
with a heavy acid-proof varnish, scratch a design through this varnish
with a sharp needle, then place the metal in a bath of acid. The acid
would eat away the steel where the varnish had been scratched, but not
elsewhere. After the plate had been taken from the acid and the varnish
removed, the etched part would show dark against the polished surface of
the steel. This contrast could be heightened by rubbing in a little
black pigment, and the early armorers discovered that they could readily
keep a record of their work or a sample sheet to show other customers,
by simply placing a piece of paper against the etched and blackened
surface and rubbing it. The fresh black would stick to the paper, giving
a clear impression of the etched design. Masters of etching like
Rembrandt used and modern etchers still use essentially the same
process.
[Illustration: _Fig. 13. A closed helmet with etching. Though
heavier, it is more comfortable than Fig. 12, since its weight rests
partly on the shoulders._]
The Museum has a number of good examples of etched armor. In Fig. 11 we
see a breastplate with etched designs of military trophies and
mythological figures. Fig. 12 shows a helmet, formerly in the
collections of the Baron de Cosson and Henry G. Keasbey, of the type
called _morion_, with an exceedingly high comb and similar etched
decoration. Fig. 13 shows a typical _closed helmet_ of the mid-sixteenth
century. Like the morion, it has a high, elaborately etched comb. The
wearer’s face was protected by two plates, an upper one called the
_vizor_, which has a narrow horizontal slit for vision like the salade
described on page 9, and a lower called the _ventail_ which has holes
and vertical slits for ventilation. Both are pivoted at the ears, so
that the vizor could be raised alone or vizor and ventail together, yet
at the appearance of danger both could be snapped down into position
with a single sweep of the gauntleted hand. The etching on this helmet
shows floral arabesques and leaping stags against a background, not
blackened, but gilt. Such gilding was done by rubbing the freshly etched
surface with a mixture of gold and mercury, then heating the metal to
evaporate the mercury and leave behind the gold firmly attached to the
steel.
[Illustration: _Fig. 14. A heavy helmet especially designed for the
tournament. The man who wore this was about as safe as armor could
make him._]
Tournament armor, used in the toughest, most exciting sport that man has
ever invented, was worn for comparatively short periods of time, and
could, therefore, be considerably heavier than the military armor which
a man might have to wear continuously. Decoration on the armor itself
was reduced to a minimum, although elaborate trappings of cloth and
feathers were often added to it. Fig. 14 shows a helmet for use in a
form of tournament conducted according to Italian rules, in which the
contestants were separated by a fence which prevented their horses from
colliding, thus permitting unrestricted speed of attack. The helmet is
very solid and sturdy, with plain polished surfaces to deflect the
opposing lance-point. Notice the circular hollow rim at the neck. This
closed over an outward-turned rim on the throat defense (_colletin_) so
that although the helmet could be turned to either side following the
motion of the wearer’s head, it could not separate from the body armor
at the throat and leave an opening for hostile spear or sword point.
[Illustration: _Fig. 15. A parade shield, etched and gilded.
Italian, XVI century._]
[Illustration: _Fig. 16. A parade helmet, probably made in Germany
for the Hungarian or Polish market._]
[Illustration: _Fig. 17. A gauntlet of solid steel which is almost
as flexible as chamois skin._]
Parade armor was the lightest yet the most elaborate of all. Not
intended for actual combat in either war or sport, it did not require
the fundamental functionality of the other types; the armorers were free
to follow their fancy and make the decoration as elaborate as they
pleased. All methods were used. Etching and gilding were extensive and
in addition the metal was embossed or chased in the most fanciful forms.
In addition to the flat mercury gilding, gold was applied by the
_damascene_ process, either the “true” damascene in which plates or
wires of gold (or silver) were actually inlaid into undercut grooves in
the steel much as a dentist would fill a tooth, or the “false” damascene
in which the precious metal was applied in the form of foil and rubbed
onto the steel surface which had previously been roughened by tool work
to produce innumerable tiny sharp points which could be burnished down
to hold the foil firmly in place.
[Illustration: _Fig. 18. A painted shield for a pageant or
fancy-dress parade. Hungarian, XV century._]
Specimens of the simpler parade armor, with etched and gilded ornament
against a background colored a warm brown, are the shield shown in Fig.
15 and the helmet of Fig. 16. A mitten-gauntlet of the second half of
the sixteenth century from the Clarence Mackay collection and formerly
from the Imperial Russian Collection in the Hermitage Museum of St.
Petersburg (Fig. 17) is an example of the work of the British Royal
Armory at Greenwich, which made numerous finely decorated suits of armor
for the nobles of the court of Queen Elizabeth. This gauntlet is a
magnificent specimen of engineering skill as applied to the design of
armor; its construction allows complete freedom to the wrist, knuckle,
and finger joints, yet keeps the hand perfectly protected in any
position. The gauntlet is decorated with an etched design of rising
eagles in interlaced medallions against a dotted background; the latter
is partly black, partly gilded.
An entirely different type of parade armor is the shield of Fig. 18. It
is made of wood, covered on the inside with leather, on the outside with
canvas painted with a small coat of arms and a large representation of
two unarmored men in mortal combat. This shield also was formerly in the
Clarence H. Mackay collection.
[Illustration: _Fig. 19. These stirrups are made of carved bronze,
completely gilded._]
Another example of parade equipment in a different medium is a pair of
stirrups (Fig. 19) made of bronze and elaborately carved and gilded.
They were formerly in the Spitzer collection.