Knight or soldier in armour

ca. 1450 - ca. 1470 · Sculpture · 113 × 26 cm

Can I see it?

Yes, on view now

Where is “Knight or soldier in armour” now? Victoria and Albert Museum, Medieval & Renaissance, Room 10a, The Françoise and Georges Selz Gallery, London. Yes, on view now. Checked September 25, 2026.

Victoria and Albert Museum

London, United Kingdom

RoomMedieval & Renaissance, Room 10a, The Françoise and Georges Selz Gallery

Closed· opens tomorrow at 10:00 AM

On public display.

Checked: 15 days ago
In this state since: Sep 25, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the sculpture

This unique oak figure represents a knight, one of three ranks of the retinue of a noble family. With two companion sculptures representing a squire and a man-at-arms, this figure would have been placed high on a screen in a great hall, still an important focus of noble living in this period. Linked to Kirkoswald Castle and Naworth Castle in Cumbria, they may once have held flags displaying heraldic devices of the Dacre family who owned both residences.

Read on

In medieval English figurative sculpture arms and armour denoted chivalrous rank and at least esquire status: the bulk of English knights were drawn from the squirearchy, families influential and important in their own county or shire, but not necessarily of enormous consequence at a national level. Entitlement to knighthood was by wealth; in the 15th century an income of £40 enetitled a man to become a knight. Arms and armour were very expensive, and came to imply by their presence in art noble status.

Victoria and Albert Museum