[Martinho Ramos]

Greetings everyone,

I am interested in finding historical sources, be it paintings, sculpture, written accounts or others, of the use of fabric or leather coverings in 15th and 16th century breastplates. I am currently working on a project of mine for a 15th century heavy infantryman cuirass, in which i wish the breast and backplates to be covered in such materials, but the front and back plackards (as well as fauld, cullet and tassets) remaining uncovered and polished.

So far i have little proof of the certain existence of such pieces of armour, provided by the paintings of the Battle of Aljubarrota by Jean Wavrin, and also i'm pretty sure that i've seen a picture of an original 15th century Italian breastplate in an Osprey volume whose description mentioned that sometimes that type of armour had the chest piece covered in fabric.

Anyway, i leave both paintings of the Battle of Aljubarrota in this post, as a manner of describing pictorically the type of armour covering i am talking about, as it is well noticeable in both Portuguese and Castillian front fighting men.