IMC 2011: Sessions
Session 1305: Armour and Art: The Making and the Representing
Wednesday 13 July 2011, 16.30-18.00
| Sponsor: | Royal Armouries, Leeds |
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| Organiser: | Robert C. Woosnam-Savage, Royal Armouries, Leeds |
| Moderator/Chair: | Graeme Rimer, Royal Armouries, Leeds |
| Paper 1305-a | Armourer's Tools (Language: English) Index terms: Military History, Technology |
| Paper 1305-b | What Armour Was Worn by Second Crusaders?: Evidence from the Baptismal Font of the Church of San Frediano, Lucca (Language: English) Index terms: Military History, Technology |
| Paper 1305-c | Affluence and Aesthetics: An Investigation into the French Armoured Gisant (Language: English) Index terms: Military History, Technology |
| Abstract | This session opens with a look at the making of armour as Thom Richardson discusses the small number of manuscript inventories of armourers’ tools still surviving from the Middle Ages and presents some unpublished lists of tools from the 14th century. He also considers the origins of the tools in the Royal Armouries collection. The paucity of early arms and armour makes the use of artistic representations of armour crucial to our understanding of this material. Kelly Devries uses evidence from an Italian mid-12th century font, which depicts Pharaoh leading his cavalry into the Red Sea pursuing the Israelites, to illustrate the armour worn during the period of the Second Crusade. The session closes with SaraLouise Howells who asks what can be gleaned from the style and form of the tomb of a knight when one lacks a name? If the stone and carving lacks aesthetic appeal, does that reflect poorly on the knight? On the opposite end, if one follows courtly trends too closely, does that exclude him from being a valiant man at arms? This study will investigate, via an art historical approach, how armor studies can assist in clarifying some of these concerns. |