Ask the Scholar

Page 1 of 1
I can add historical knowledge about this page.

Page image

Page 1

Document source description

Pikemen formed the backbone of infantry tactics through the end of the English Civil Wars (1642–51). Since muskets alone were ineffective against cavalry charges, companies of pikemen, armed with pikes, or spears, of 12 to 16 feet in length, were deployed in defensive formations to protect the musketeers, who wore no armor. A pikeman was usually equipped with a breastplate and backplate, hinged tassets reaching to mid-thigh, and sometimes a gorget, or neck piece, worn over a heavy buffcoat. High boots replaced leg armor. A brimmed, high-combed helmet known as a "pot" protected the head. Pikeman's armor withstood hard service. It was colored and treated (though the black paint seen here is modern) to control rusting and to add decorative interest.

Page data

Page
1
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
eca66d9070293d6d
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
104704
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "id": "104704",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Pikeman’s Armor",
    "description": "Pikemen formed the backbone of infantry tactics through the end of the English Civil Wars (1642–51). Since muskets alone were ineffective against cavalry charges, companies of pikemen, armed with pikes, or spears, of 12 to 16 feet in length, were deployed in defensive formations to protect the musketeers, who wore no armor. A pikeman was usually equipped with a breastplate and backplate, hinged tassets reaching to mid-thigh, and sometimes a gorget, or neck piece, worn over a heavy buffcoat. High boots replaced leg armor. A brimmed, high-combed helmet known as a \"pot\" protected the head. Pikeman's armor withstood hard service. It was colored and treated (though the black paint seen here is modern) to control rusting and to add decorative interest.",
    "date": "c. 1620–30",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1923.1063",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q60757256"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Arms and Armor"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1923.1063/1923.1063_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1923.1063/1923.1063_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1923.1063/1923.1063_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "cul": [
        "Netherlands, Dutch or Flemish, 17th century"
    ],
    "accession": "1923.1063"
}

Context sent to Scholar

Document identity
{
    "localId": "104704",
    "label": "Pikeman’s Armor",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "104704",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Pikeman’s Armor",
    "description": "Pikemen formed the backbone of infantry tactics through the end of the English Civil Wars (1642–51). Since muskets alone were ineffective against cavalry charges, companies of pikemen, armed with pikes, or spears, of 12 to 16 feet in length, were deployed in defensive formations to protect the musketeers, who wore no armor. A pikeman was usually equipped with a breastplate and backplate, hinged tassets reaching to mid-thigh, and sometimes a gorget, or neck piece, worn over a heavy buffcoat. High boots replaced leg armor. A brimmed, high-combed helmet known as a \"pot\" protected the head. Pikeman's armor withstood hard service. It was colored and treated (though the black paint seen here is modern) to control rusting and to add decorative interest.",
    "date": "c. 1620–30",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1923.1063",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q60757256"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Arms and Armor"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1923.1063/1923.1063_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1923.1063/1923.1063_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1923.1063/1923.1063_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "cul": [
        "Netherlands, Dutch or Flemish, 17th century"
    ],
    "accession": "1923.1063"
}
Document source extras
{
    "tec": "steel with brass rivets and black paint",
    "tombstone": "Pikeman’s Armor, c. 1620–30. Netherlands, Dutch or Flemish, 17th century. Steel with brass rivets and black paint. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance, 1923.1063",
    "collection": "MED - Arms & Armor",
    "didYouKnow": "With its chevron decoration, this armor is slightly more decorative than most pikeman, suggesting that an officer could have owned it.",
    "citations": [
        {
            "citation": "Gilchrist, Helen Ives, and Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor</em>. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art. 2nd ed., 1948.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: p. 16; Reproduction: p. 27",
            "url": "https://archive.org/details/HandbookArmsArmor1948/page/n33"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Fliegel, Stephen N. \"An English Pikeman's Armor from the Severance Collection.\" <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 81, no. 7 (1994): 252-67.",
            "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 252-53; Mentioned: p. 252-267",
            "url": "https://www.jstor.org/stable/25161462"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Fliegel, Stephen N.<em> Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>[Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.",
            "page_number": "pp. 101, 162; cat. no. 4"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Fliegel, Stephen N.<em> Arms &amp; Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.",
            "page_number": "cat. no. 7, p. 182"
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1923.1063",
    "creditline": "Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance",
    "updatedAt": "2026-05-29 05:38:52.770000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1923.1063/1923.1063_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 104704,
    "dept": "Medieval Art",
    "coll": "MED - Arms & Armor",
    "med": "steel with brass rivets and black paint",
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}
Page context
{
    "seq": 1,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1923.1063/1923.1063_web.jpg",
    "mediaId": "eca66d9070293d6d"
}