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 XVITH
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*