Inclassical antiquity, themuscle cuirass (Latin:lorica musculata),[a]anatomical cuirass, orheroic cuirass is a type ofcuirass made to fit the wearer's torso and designed to mimic an idealized male human physique. It first appears in lateArchaic Greece and became widespread throughout the 5th and 4th centuries BC.[1] Originally made from hammeredbronze plate,boiled leather also came to be used.[citation needed] It is commonly depicted inGreek andRoman art, where it is worn by generals, emperors, and deities during periods when soldiers used other types.
InRoman sculpture, the muscle cuirass is often highly ornamented withmythological scenes. Archaeological finds of relatively unadorned cuirasses, as well as their depiction by artists in military scenes, indicate that simpler versions were worn in combat situations. The anatomy of muscle cuirasses intended for use might be eitherrealistic or reduced to an abstract design; the fantastically illustrated cuirasses worn by gods and emperors in Roman statues usually incorporate realisticnipples and thenavel within the scene depicted.
The cuirasses were cast in two pieces, the front and the back, then hammered. They were a development from the early Archaic bell-shaped cuirass, weighing about 25 pounds.[3] Examples from the 5th century BC have been found in the tombs ofThracians, whosecavalrymen wore them.[4] The earliest surviving depiction inGreek sculpture seems to be an example on a sculptural warrior's torso found on theAcropolis of Athens and dating around 470–460 BC. The muscle cuirass is also depicted onAttic red-figure pottery, which dates from around 530 BC and into the late 3rd century BC.
From around 475 to 450 BC, the muscle cuirass was shorter, covering less of the abdomen, and more nipped at the waist than in later examples. It was worn over achitoniskos. InNeo-Attic art, the muscle cuirass was worn over a longerchiton.[5]
The Italian muscle cuirass lacked the shoulder-guards found on Greek examples.[6] Examples among theSamnites andOscans sketch a blockier torso more roughly than the anatomically realistic Greek pieces.[7] Many examples come from graves inCampania,[6]Etruria, and elsewhere in southern Italy.[2]
Polybius omits the muscle cuirass in his description of the types of armor worn by theRoman army, but archaeological finds and artistic depictions suggest that it was worn in combat. The monument ofAemilius Paulus atDelphi shows two Roman infantrymen wearingmail shirts alongside three who wear muscle cuirasses.[6] They were worn mostly by officers, and may have been molded leather as well as metal, with fringed leather(pteruges) at the armholes and lower edge.[8] The muscle cuirass is one of the elements that distinguished a senior officer's "uniform".[9]
The sculptural replicating of the human body in the muscle cuirass may be inspired by the concept ofheroic nudity, and the development of the muscle cuirass has been linked to the idealized portraiture of the male body in Greek art.[10]Kenneth Clark attributes the development of an idealized standard musculature, varied from the facts of nature, toPolykleitos:
Polykleitos set himself to perfect the internal structure of the torso. He recognized that it allowed for the creation of a sculptural unit in which the position of humps and hollows evokes some memory and yet can be made harmonious by variation and emphasis. There is the beginning of such a system inthe torso from Miletos and that of theKritios youth; but Polykleitos' control of muscle architecture was evidently far more rigorous, and from him derives that standard schematization of the torso known in French as thecuirasse esthétique, a disposition of muscles so formalized that it was in fact used in the design of armor and became for the heroic body like the masks of the antique stage. Thecuirasse esthétique, which so greatly delighted the artists of the Renaissance, is one of the features of antique art that have done most to alienate modern taste.... But... we can see from certain replicas that this was originally a construction of great power. Such is the copy of theDoryphoros in the Uffizi.[11]
Hellenistic rulers added divine emblems, such as thunderbolts, to thepteruges.
Another conventional decoration is thegorgoneion, or Medusa's head, on the upper chest, and often vegetative motifs on the pectorals.[12] One of the elements of iconography that identify the GreekAthena and the RomanMinerva, goddesses who embodied the strategic side of warfare, was abreastplate bearing a gorgoneion (seeAegis). Other deities, particularly thewar godsAres andMars, could be portrayed with muscle cuirasses.[5]
Among freestanding sculptures portrayingRoman emperors, a common type shows the emperor wearing a highly ornamented muscle cuirass, often with a scene frommythology. Figures such aswinged victories, enemies in defeat, andvirtues personified represent the emperor as master of the world. Symbolic arrangements this elaborate never appear on Greek cuirasses.[13]
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The cuirass on the famousAugustus of Prima Porta is particularly ornate. In the center, a Roman officer is about to receive a Roman military standard(aquila) from a bearded "barbarian" who appears to be aParthian. The Roman, who has ahound at his side, is most often identified as a youngTiberius, and the scene is usually read as the return in 20 BC of the standards lost at theBattle of Carrhae in 53 BC. The anatomically realistic navel (Greekomphalos, Latinumbilicus) is placed between the two central figures, slightly below ground level in relation to the feet and centered above thepersonification of Earth, positioned over the abdomen.[14] Her reclining position,cornucopia, and the presence of suckling babies is common to other goddesses in Augustan art who represent peace and prosperity. Other figures include a lyre-playingApollo riding agriffin,Diana on the back of ahind, and thequadriga of the Sun at the top.[15]
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