Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 3).djvu/16

 CHAPTER XXIV

THE MAXIMILIAN SCHOOL

The first recognized group of XVIth century armour, all classed under the heading of the Maximilian school, irrespective of nationality—This group in itself divided into three schools, the plain, the fluted, and the grotesque—All contemporaneous and made during the period we might roughly estimate from about 1510 to 1545—Some characteristic examples of the plain Maximilian harnesses, Italian and German—The fluted Maximilian, some characteristic examples, both Italian and German—Examples of extreme rarity—Under the heading of the Grotesque Maximilian, puffed, slashed, and strangely visored helmets appear, suits of great rarity and of superb workmanship, but bizarre and curious—The grotesqueness in the fashioning of the suits followed the civil dress of the day, expressing in iron the prevailing modes; and the desire to sacrifice the elongated "gothic" lines of a previous generation to those that lend width and sturdiness to the figure—Some very famous puffed and slashed suits, Italian, German, and possibly French—A forged brass in St. Denis and an absurd tradition—Tradition and armour                                              240

CHAPTER XXV

ARMOUR OF A TYPE NOW VAGUELY TERMED LANDSKNECHT AND XVI CENTURY ARMOUR UNDER CLASSICAL INFLUENCE

A type of armour belonging to the second quarter of the XVIth century and later, now vaguely classed under the heading of Landsknecht for the want of a more comprehensive name—The greater part of the more ordinary mid-XVIth century armour comes within this category—Some fine examples principally of German make-XVIth century armour, the actual form and decoration of which is influenced by the feeling of the Renaissance—One of the most famous historical suits of the first half of the XVIth century belonging to this group—The master of this school, Bartolommeo Campi of Pesaro, though many armourers, notably of Italy, made classically fashioned suits—Some famous examples—The classical motifs retained throughout the XVIth and even during the XVIIth century, though the classical forms of the actual plates are more directly influenced by the fashion of the time as the century progresses—The Baron de Cosson on the work of Bartolommeo Campi—L'Armure aux Lions and the "Lion" suit in the Tower                                                 272

CHAPTER XXVI

ARMOUR TERMED "SPANISH"

Armour termed "Spanish," a description of a particular type of war harness chiefly supplied to the Spanish Court, made chiefly in Germany—The finest armourers of Augsburg, Landshut, and Innsbruck all worked for Charles V, Philip II, and the grandees of Spain*