noted on the reinforcing piece over the forehead (Fig. 448A) is that in place of the semicircular forms which the back outline of this plate usually follows, the edge on either side adapts itself to the forms of an imperial eagle, of the columns of Hercules, of a link of the order of the Golden Fleece, all of which are emblematic of its royal wearer, an ornamentation which is further elaborated by etching and gilding in the form of the pomegranate, and by the inscription of the motto, PLUS OULTRE.
In the same way that the salade—especially that of German origin—was occasionally surmounted with an elaborate crest, so was the armet decorated in its turn. For proof one has only to consult once more the Uccello picture in the National Gallery, in which the crests are very much in evidence. We hardly think that they could have had any heraldic significance. They do not seem to be characterized by the heraldic spirit, but the decoration is rather barbaric in character. Combinations of balls and spikes, and curiously fashioned bats' wings or fans, arranged in all manner of ways, and topped with red or green plumes or single feathers of silver and gold, appear on the armets of the most prominent knights. It is, however, worth noticing that certain knights in the background on the left of the picture are represented wearing armets which are not crested.
Plumes, lambrequins, and crests would seem to have run riot upon the head-pieces of the Italian warriors of the XVth century. On the occasion of the historic fight between Jean de Bonniface and the famous Jacques de Lalain, Georges Chastelain states that the former entered the lists accompanied by his mounted squire, Giovanni Bentivoglio, who had for head-piece "un armet, où au pardessus avoit un plumas où y avoit un croissant d'or, et aux débouts plumes de paon et au milieu une houppe de plumes de paon blanche et par-dessus tout, un couvrechef de plaisance." On another occasion Olivier de la Marche relates how this same Bonniface had upon his armet as crest: "le bras d'une dame tenant un gand volet."
The splendid Italian medals of the Cinquecento give us further proof of the eccentric cresting of the salade and armet. Upon the armet represented in the medal of Grati, Count of Bologna, the work of Sperandio, there is nothing more or less than a small flagstaff, to which is attached a tiny flag shown fluttering in the wind. Precious materials, gold, silver, and jewels, often formed part of the enrichment of the armet. The armet carried before Louis XI, on his state entry into Paris in 1461, was "couronné et tymbre de fleur de lys d'or bien riche"; while in the miniature painted by Jean Marot (No. 5091 Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris) which represents Louis XII leaving
