Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 3).djvu/195

Fig. 960. Chanfron

Late XIVth or early XVth century The Arsenal, Venice

France après Philippe III) (Fig. 959) we see the charger of a knight emerging from behind a tent. Caparisons of material descend to the horse's fetlocks, beneath which appears chain armour; around the upper portion of its neck are four complete crinet plates, while the chanfron is full—the eyes and ears being protected by metal, which, however, is pierced with clusters of holes for purposes of seeing and hearing. Down the centre of the chanfron is the same cusped ridge which we noted on those of earlier date (page 150). It is interesting to see the manner in which the eye protections are applied: we are able to give an illustration of an existing chanfron in which the construction will be found to be the same as in the case of that represented on the charger in the miniature. The chanfron in question is that rare piece of armour preserved in the Arsenal of Venice which used to go by the name of "the chanfron of Attila"! Above the eye openings in this example are applied deep hoods, limiting the vision of the horse to the ground—but not pierced with holes like those shown in the illuminations. The actual date of the Venice chanfron, which has been variously estimated to be from early XIVth to late XVth century, can be more or less determined by fixing the date of the manuscript in which this type of horse armament figures. This is accepted as being of the early years of the XVth century, to which date therefore it is fairly safe to assign the "Attila" chanfron. The whole surface of the chanfron, which is now black, has applied to it at regular intervals small five-rayed stars; while down the centre of the forehead runs an applied inverted keel-like form (Fig. 960). The remarkable feature of this chanfron is its excessive length. The attribution to Attila is of no great antiquity; for in the inventory of 1611 the only mention made of horse armour is that of "a black horse head-piece." In the 1773 inventory of the Arsenal there is reference to an iron helmet of Attila's; but there is no mention made of a head-piece for a horse. Gravembroch, however, reproduces a drawing of the chanfron, adding as description: Visiera decantata del cavallo di Attila, sta nelle sale del Eccelso Cons^o, di X.