Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 1).djvu/245

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Fig. 203. Bas-relief of a knight wearing armour in the fashion of about 1470-80

Church of Salsburg

Fig. 204. Composite suit of armour of about 1470-80

Collection: the late Herr Hefner Alteneck

  • tion of the coudes, in the modelling of the sollerets, in the construction of

the gauntlets, salade head-piece, and taces. It cannot be said that, as in the case of the armour depicted on our own effigies, these representations of armour are something like the armour that was worn; they are the exact counterpart of the actual armour with no artistic licence allowed. So, too, in Italy, this close approximation of the sculptured examples to the armour worn at the time is very noticeable in the effigies, especially in those cases where the classic Renaissance has not influenced the sculptor. For instance, on the beautiful tomb of General Gattamelata in the Church of St. Antony of Padua (Fig. 206) the knight is sculptured as though he were actually dressed in complete existing armour—armour which might well be actually modelled from, and not merely resemble, the fine Missaglia harness in the