Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/270

 The shield is circular and slightly convex, having a brightened surface with motifs in gold. Besides bearing the signature of the armourer it is impressed with the guild mark of Augsburg. In the inventories of the Armoury between the years 1594-1652, this shield is included amongst the weapons that belonged to King Philip II; although, when it was made, this monarch was only sixteen years of age. In the centre of the shield is seen a strange allegorical composition etched in aqua fortis above the slight embossing. For an explanation of the significance of the scene depicted we must look to the wording which accompanies each figure. The nude woman holding an oar on which we read forteza seems to be Fortitude in charge of a boat inscribed caro, meaning Humanity, which fights against the attacks of vortuna in the tempestuous sea of life. Her guide is the compass (engraved on the prow), her shield inscribed Fides represents Faith, and seems as if she were seeking help from the Divine Grace (gracia Dei), the symbol of which is an urn. In its early German style this shield is a beautiful work of art; though it is difficult to view with favour the introduction of a figure subject so large in scale upon such a comparatively small field. From the hand of this same armourer is that remarkable shield in the same collection of the so-called Hungarian type, M 6 (Fig. 1313); for with shields of this shape, called in Spain tablachinas, the Hungarian cavalry were armed in the German wars of about 1547. Upon the face of this shield is embossed the figure of a cock in the attitude of attack chasing a fully armoured knight. According to the inventories of the Madrid armouries for the years 1594-1652, the shield is stated to have been the property of Francis I of France; but whether the attribution rests on an interpretation of the allegory of the cock and the knight, the cock being supposed to represent France chasing some enemy, or whether it is based on some documentary evidence which has since disappeared, even Count de Valencia was unable to say.

As may well be imagined, the armourers of Germany also produced the more simply decorated circular shield, and in work of this kind we think that in certain respects they surpassed their Italian contemporaries. The schools of Wolf of Landshut and the Kolmans of Augsburg, to complete the fine harnesses they made for Philip II and the great nobles of Spain, worked circular targets in very beautiful taste. Such targets are to be found at Vienna, Madrid, and Turin, and also in the Dino Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of New York. One can see an example on the famous Londesborough suit (Vol. iii, Fig. 1068), and of another, separated from its suit, we give an illustration (Fig. 1314). This last mentioned shield dates from the middle of the XVIth century, and is the workmanship of Sigis