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Fig. 1005. From Hans Burgkmaier's "Triumph of Maximilian"

direct special attention; for beyond the plates of which we have already made mention, small laminated plates are seen beneath the poitrel, croupière, and flanchards. To these are attached actual leg-pieces of plate covering all four legs of the horse right down to his hoof, fashioned on the same principle as were the arm-pieces seen on an ordinary suit made for man. Such armaments for the legs of the horse were, we are informed by Mr. ffoulkes, individually termed estival. In this particular picture the hinges on the outside of the plates, and the turning pins on the interior are clearly shown; while the inside bend of the knee seems to be protected by some flexible material, such as chain mail or quilted armament. Around the poitrel and flanchards are at intervals suspended bells. This extremely full equipment for the horse is engraved as the frontispiece to Von Leber's Wiens Kaiserliches Zeughaus. We doubt very much whether such completeness in horse armament ever really existed. As depicted in the Vienna portrait, it seems but a form of conceit on the part of the Harnischmeister, who merely wished to show the proficiency of his craft, by portraying his horse entirely clothed in steel. The completeness of this horse defence is certainly almost absolute; the only apertures occur on either side of the horse, where in the flanchards an opening about the length and breadth of the rider's foot is provided in order to allow for the use of the spur. The present writer believes that this is the sole pictorial evidence of complete armour for horse's legs; though he remembers of course that in Burgkmaier's "Triumph of Maximilian" the chargers of two of the knights, the foremost of which we illustrate, can be seen armed in a strange form of poitrel, which is prolonged by four lames fastened round the upper part of the horse's legs like taces in a man's suit (Fig. 1005), and ending in a small curtain of mail. Our conclusion is that if such horse armour