02-01-2012, 05:20 AM
The following paintings I did a few years ago all illustrate some unusual forms of clothing or perhaps body protection. They are naturally open to interpretation but could represent the under armour garment known as a subarmalis.
In appearance they are very similar to designs familiar to medieval students, in particular illustrations by Memling a fifteenth century Flemish artist. There are also some rare surviving examples from the medieval era which again look very similar to what is depicted in these sculptures.
One could argue that they show padded garments and perhaps like some medieval versions some may have metal stud fittings too. Of course if these are under armour garments then one must immediately ask, why can we see them?
An answer can possibly be found in Roman literature. Septimius Severus made the Praetorian Guard parade only in what was described as a subarmalis before disarming them. SHA, Severus, 6.11 If this was done so as not to arouse suspicion, then the Guard must have frequently worn these garments without armour. M. Spiedel suggests that the subarmalis mentioned in the Carlisle writing tablets was a padded garment that could also be worn in training, not an underarm lance as proposed previously by Tomlin. M.P. Spiedel 2007: The Missing Weapons at Carlisle' Britannia 38 p.237-39'
A subarmalis also appears in a list of clothing supplies from a Vindolanda tablet which would seem to support the theory that it is a garment rather than a weapon. Tab.Vind.II,184,iii,38
There are a number of accounts that in medieval times padded garments were worn in action without armour as they provided substantial protection in their own right. Perhaps therefore these garments were seen more frequently than we might at first assume which accounts for the examples below.
Naturally as mentioned earlier the sculptures are all open to interpretation. Out of interest I have shown these examples to textile historians who all agreed they show padded wool or linen garments but it will be interesting to hear what other RATers make of them.
Graham.
In appearance they are very similar to designs familiar to medieval students, in particular illustrations by Memling a fifteenth century Flemish artist. There are also some rare surviving examples from the medieval era which again look very similar to what is depicted in these sculptures.
One could argue that they show padded garments and perhaps like some medieval versions some may have metal stud fittings too. Of course if these are under armour garments then one must immediately ask, why can we see them?
An answer can possibly be found in Roman literature. Septimius Severus made the Praetorian Guard parade only in what was described as a subarmalis before disarming them. SHA, Severus, 6.11 If this was done so as not to arouse suspicion, then the Guard must have frequently worn these garments without armour. M. Spiedel suggests that the subarmalis mentioned in the Carlisle writing tablets was a padded garment that could also be worn in training, not an underarm lance as proposed previously by Tomlin. M.P. Spiedel 2007: The Missing Weapons at Carlisle' Britannia 38 p.237-39'
A subarmalis also appears in a list of clothing supplies from a Vindolanda tablet which would seem to support the theory that it is a garment rather than a weapon. Tab.Vind.II,184,iii,38
There are a number of accounts that in medieval times padded garments were worn in action without armour as they provided substantial protection in their own right. Perhaps therefore these garments were seen more frequently than we might at first assume which accounts for the examples below.
Naturally as mentioned earlier the sculptures are all open to interpretation. Out of interest I have shown these examples to textile historians who all agreed they show padded wool or linen garments but it will be interesting to hear what other RATers make of them.
Graham.
"Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream" Edgar Allan Poe.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
