Body armor has long been important to tradition and warfare of all peoples around the world. Popular types of armor include helmets and breastplates. Universally, armor serves to protect the body, but also reflects aesthetic ideals through cultural factors. Societies create armor from unique resources, utilizing specific techniques that make them stand apart from others. Although armor visually looks different across the world, it all serves to protect the human body and convey cultural ideals. The following pieces of art, organized in order based on date of creation, convey the deep and extended history of body armor.
Corinthian helmet, Unknown, c. 540 BCE, From the collection of: Minneapolis Institute of Art
Chalcidian-Type Helmet, Greek, ca. 500 BC (Classical), From the collection of: The Walters Art Museum
Plate Armor and Helmet, Unknown, Gaya, 5th century, From the collection of: National Museum of Korea
Armor (Yoroi) of Ashikaga Takauji (1305–1358), early–mid-14th century, From the collection of: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Portions of an Armor for Field and Tilt, Jacob Halder and Workshop (English, Greenwich, active 1576–1608), About 1590, From the collection of: The Art Institute of Chicago
Parade Helmet, Ottoman, 16th c., From the collection of: Armoury, Dresden State Art Collections
Body armour of Aurangzeb, Unknown, 1700 AD, From the collection of: National Museum - New Delhi
“Kurab-a-Kulang” Armor, Unknown, 1600/1800, From the collection of: Museo Nacional de Antropología, Madrid
Armor of Infante Luis, Prince of Asturias (1707–1724), Jean Drouart, dated 1712, From the collection of: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Credits: All media
This user gallery has been created by an independent third party and may not represent the views of the institutions whose collections include the featured works or of Google Arts & Culture.
