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“We’re talking about somebody who already knows how to wear a cuirass,” she said.

The breastplate – or “muscle cuirass” – has been used to craft an idealised version of the body since Greco-Roman times, protecting the torso while creating the illusion of muscles.

The Dukes of Berry and Brittany, two decent men, might have been trotting along the road, in satin cuirasses which imitated steel.

“Men in Armor” brings together only two canvases, both portraits of bearded Italian gentlemen wearing gleaming cuirasses, as upper-body armor has been called since the time of the Romans.

William Randolph Hearst, one of the most enthusiastic collectors, had an entire armory in his Riverside Drive penthouse: enough pikes, halberds, helms, hauberks, greaves, gauntlets, cuisses and cuirasses to outfit a crusade.