Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 3).djvu/374

 appears to be a parade harness, we find, on careful examination, that it was also intended for use in the field. The weight of the helmet is very considerable, its crest being especially thick. There is a screw hole on the right side of the mezail which served to receive the screw which fixed the chin-piece or reinforcing buffe mentioned in the inventory, a reinforcement used only in combat. The right shoulder-piece is hollowed out for the lance, although a lance-rest has never been actually attached to this breastplate. This is explained by the fact that the lance-rest was usually placed in position on the breastplate according to the taste of the wearer, and would prove that, although, as we have said, the suit was made equally for fighting purposes, it has only been used for parade purposes. As a particular mark which points to the personage for whom it was made, we may notice that, although it is of medium size, the gauntlets are of very large dimensions, the fingers of the gauntlets being of an extraordinary length. The reinforcing buffe and the leg armour mentioned in the 1643 inventory have disappeared; but what is left of the suit is a marvellous specimen of the art of this particular Milanese armourer of the commencement of the second half of the XVIth century. The close helmet, with the visor and mezail and large gorget plates, is typical of the latter half of the XVIth century, but grand in proportions. Upon the gorget itself, which is partly hidden by the gorget plates of the helmet, can be seen a Medusa mask, and below it the order of the Golden Fleece, suspended by a small chain with the two letters C.M. represented as though attached by a cord to the Fleece. Herr Wendelin Boeheim read the first letter inscribed on the plate as G., not C., and accordingly believed there was reason to attribute this piece to Gasparo Mola, an embosser working in Rome during the first half of the XVIIth century. But the first letter is undoubtedly a C, and the very prominent position occupied by these two letters together, with the fact that they are so closely connected with the Golden Fleece, would rather prove that they are not the signature of the armourer, but that of the personage for whom the armour was made. The letter C is the first in the paternal name of the Duke of Sessa, Cordoba. As for the letter M, we do not know the name of the Duke's mother; but as in Spain both paternal and maternal names are used, if that name began with an M the explanation of the cipher would be found. One might also interpret the initial to mean Captain General of Milan; but this reading seems too venturesome. The collar of the Golden Fleece is embossed on the front of the breastplate, each link of the collar being enriched with gold damascening. This embossing of the collar is continued on the backplate. Above the