South Germany or Austria / c. 1485
Gothic Breastplate
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Gothic Breastplate as arms and armor (South Germany or Austria · c. 1485).
This breastplate consists of two primary plates of steel fastened at the center by a rivet.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this arms and armor as steel.
The museum's collection notes: Individual armor elements, like this breastplate, were shaped in ways that would make their surfaces as deflecting as possible. The contours of this breastplate, along with the pronounced vertical ridge down its center, were for precisely this purpose.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtGothic BreastplateOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.