Breast- and Backplate (Cuirass)

Gallery 347, Arms and Armor, third floor (Kretzschmar von Kienbusch Galleries)

Main Building

Breast- and Backplate (Cuirass)

c. 1580

Artist/maker unknown, German Made for Prince Nikolaus Christoph Radziwill (1548–1616) , or made for his cousin Prince Christoph Nikolaus Radziwill I (1543–1603)

This cuirass was originally part of an armor tailored for a very large nobleman who belonged to the prominent Radziwill family of Lithuania and Poland. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, it remained in its original armory in a castle owned by a branch of the family in Lithuania. The hole visible in the breastplate is probably the result of rust from poor maintenance rather than combat-inflicted damage.

Gallery 347, Arms and Armor, third floor (Kretzschmar von Kienbusch Galleries)

Object Details

Titles:

Breast- and Backplate (Cuirass)

Date:

c. 1580

Artists:

Artist/maker unknown, German Made for Prince Nikolaus Christoph Radziwill (1548–1616) , or made for his cousin Prince Christoph Nikolaus Radziwill I (1543–1603)

Medium:

Iron alloy (steel), etched, partially blackened and gilded; leather

Dimensions:

Height (down the center at the front): 27 11/16 inches (70.3 cm) Height (down the center at the back): 17 15/16 inches (45.6 cm) Circumference (beneath the armholes): 61 9/16 inches (156.3 cm) Waist (breatsplate): 29 13/16 inches (75.8 cm) Weight (Breastplate): 10.5 lb. (4.78 kg) Weight (Backplate): 5.4 lb. (2.43 kg) Weight (Backplate and breastplate together): 15.9 lb. (7.21 kg)

Classification:

Arms and Armor

Credit Line:

Bequest of Carl Otto Kretzschmar von Kienbusch, 1977

Accession Number:

1977-167-158

Geography:

Made in Germany, Europe or made in Poland, Europe

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Gallery 347, Arms and Armor, third floor (Kretzschmar von Kienbusch Galleries)

Main Building

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