Heavy jousting armour
Engraved and embossed iron, leather straps
France, circa 1560
Musée de l’Armée, Paris
Inv No. 2015.0.107; Cote G 70 ROB
This half jousting armour, bearing the Valois crescent, may have been offered by King Henry II of France to a duke or a close relative, to be used during a tournament or a martial re-enactment. Great battles of the past, such as the Trojan War from Antiquity, were often staged during these jousts.