Panel from a Box with Scene of Jousting Knights, 19th Century, Europe
1media/sf17-190-249s1_thumb.jpg2024-02-25T14:57:21-08:00Zachary Barneyf5cc51c4ef7458536b9f67e6f461f73621becb95444042Panel from a Box with Scene of Jousting Knights, 19th Century, Europe, Metropolitan Museum of Artplain2024-02-29T11:53:17-08:00Zachary Barneyf5cc51c4ef7458536b9f67e6f461f73621becb95
This set of German jousting armor witnesses Europe's transformation in the 15th and 16th centuries. The armor is the culmination of hundreds of years of technological development focused on safety in military contexts, with its flexible joints, adjustable sightline, and different strengths of metal carefully modified throughout the suit. Over the course of the previous five hundred years, Europeans had converted armed cavalry charges into tournament spectacles in which nobles and knights could participate at a much lower risk of injury or death than in the past. The jousting armor also shows the wealth and power of the Holy Roman Empire in Renaissance Europe.
