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Archaic Greece
- In classical antiquity, the muscle cuirass, anatomical cuirass or heroic cuirass is a type of body armor made from hammered bronze plate to fit the wearer's torso and designed to mimic an idealized human physique. It first appears in late Archaic Greece and became widespread throughout the 5th and 4th centuries BC.
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In classical antiquity, the muscle cuirass, anatomical cuirass, or heroic cuirass is a type of cuirass made to fit the wearer's torso and designed to mimic an idealized male human physique. It first appears in late Archaic Greece and became widespread throughout the 5th and 4th centuries BC.
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Although the heavy muscle cuirass would have afforded sturdy protection, in practical terms it might have been too cumbersome, not to mention cost prohibitive, for regular use by an infantryman. The main purpose of the highly figured cuirass was to impress, and it was likely reserved for military reviews and parades. The cuirasses were cast in two ...
Cuirasse esthétique
The sculptural replicating of the human body in the muscle cuirass may be inspired by the concept of heroic nudity, and the development of the muscle cuirass has been linked to the idealized portraiture of the male body in Greek art. Kenneth Clark attributes the development of an idealized standard musculature, varied from the facts of nature, to Polykleitos:
Decoration
Hellenistic rulersadded divine emblems such as thunderbolts to the shoulder flaps. Another conventional decoration is the gorgoneion, or Medusa's head, on the upper chest, and often vegetative motifs on the pectorals. One of the elements of iconography that identify the Greek Athena and the Roman Minerva, goddesses who embodied the strategic side of warfare, was a breastplate bearing a gorgoneion (see Aegis). Other deities, particularly the war gods Ares and Mars, could be portrayed with musc...
Roman emperors
Among freestanding sculptures portraying Roman emperors, a common type shows the emperor wearing a highly ornamented muscle cuirass, often with a scene from mythology. Figures such as winged victories, enemies in defeat, and virtues personifiedrepresent the emperor as master of the world. Symbolic arrangements this elaborate never appear on Greek cuirasses. The cuirass on the famous Augustus of Prima Porta is particularly ornate. In the center, a Roman officer is about to receive a Roman mili...
Nio dou or dō, a Japanese cuirass embossed to resemble the emaciated torso of a starving monk or old man.
Eastern Roman Empire. The Hetaireia or Hetaeria was a corps of bodyguards during the Byzantine Empire. Its name means "the Company", echoing the ancient Macedonian Companion cavalry. The imperial Hetaireia was composed chiefly of foreigners. They acted as part of the Byzantine imperial guard alongside the tagmata in the 9th–12th centuries.
An edited version of this article was originally published in issue XVII.1 (February 2024) of Ancient Warfare magazine. The bronze muscle cuirass. A marvel of metalworking, a milestone of artistic sophistication, and an icon of the Ancient Greek hoplite, it embodied its wearer’s status – and quite possibly saved his life.
Less common, due to its expense, was the muscle cuirass. This was a defence made entirely of plate bronze consisting of a breast and backplate, usually with shoulder pieces, modelled in relief on the form a muscular male torso. This was often given pteruges to extend the area of the body covered.
- Kingdom of Macedon
Apr 27, 2023 · THE MUSCLE CUIRASS. The muscle cuirass continued to be used as the most elaborate piece of body armour available to wealthier officers. It was presumably this type of cuirass that Epaminondas was wearing when he was injured ‘through the breastplate’ at Mantinea in 362 (Diodorus XV, 87.1).
Muscle Cuirass. ne of the most widely recognized Roman lorica was the so called 'muscle' cuirass ( thorax statios in Greek), probably Hellenistic in origin. This cuirass was molded on the contours of the muscles of the male chest which were reproduced in an idealized manner.
