historical importance, being known as the armour of Francis I. The official catalogue of the Musée d'Artillerie states that it was ordered by the Archduke Ferdinand from Jörg Seusenhofer for the King of France, when the two countries were at peace, i.e., probably between 1529 and 1536. It was made in Germany, but, in the author's opinion, by one of the Kolmans of Augsburg. It must be supposed that immediately after its completion a fresh rupture arose between France and Germany, with the result that the suit never reached its destination, but remained in the Ambras Collection, whence it was brought back by the French after the wars of the first Empire in 1806. It was then placed in the Musée des Souverains, but subsequently, in 1872, was removed to the Musée d'Artillerie.
The suit is of large and fine proportions, made essentially for field wear, its right pauldron hollowed for the couching of the lance, the left very full à la façon d'Italie: both have the upright shoulder guards. It is now impossible to say how its traditional ascription to the ownership of Francis I originated, whether it was from embossing resembling fleurs-de-lis and gilt ornaments appearing on the surface of the suit at intervals, or whether from some documentary evidence now lost. That we shall never know. In any case the evidence derived from the form of ornamentation is not very conclusive; for the embossing, instead of representing the true and simple fleur-de-lis of France, seems rather to depict the fleur-de-lis épanouie of Florence. Until some one makes further investigations into its origin we can but simply regard the suit as what it is—a very beautiful and finely made suit of the ordinary fashion of about 1525-35 and of the Kolman type. In the Wallace Collection, No. 402 (Fig. 1049), is a suit of armour much like it, though of somewhat inferior workmanship, which, according to tradition, was also called the armour of Francis I, doubtless from its resemblance to the suit in the Musée d'Artillerie just mentioned. The Wallace suit bears upon the breastplate the mark employed by the Kolman family, a circumstance which goes to strengthen our belief in the suggestion that the Paris suit came from their workshops. Another most interesting feature of agreement between the two suits is the extraordinary length of the jambs, which are elongated immediately below the knee-cops into almost deformed proportions. There is a difference in the shape of the breastplate, the Musée d'Artillerie suit possessing a tapul down the front, while that in the Wallace Collection is globose; but, generally speaking, there is a great likeness between the two suits. The Wallace suit has embossed decoration resembling fleurs-de-lis on the tuilles and on the toe-caps
