Side Panel of a Crupper ca. 1485-1500 German Another rare suvival of so-called Gothic horse armor, this side panel of a crupper, now incomplete, differs from another example in the Metropolitan Museum's collection (acc. no. 29.158.606) both in construction and decoration. Its most notable features are the parallel ridges embossed on the surface and the scalloped lower edge. Groups of parallel or flaring ridges were used to decorate plate armor since at least the second quarter of the fifteenth century. Although particularly favored in German-speaking regions, such decoration was also found in Spain, France, and England. Italian armorers frequently employed ridges to ornament armor alla tedesca (in the German fashion), which was made for export north of the Alps. During the first three decades of the sixteenth century, this style of decoration reached its climax: entire surfaces, especially of German armor, were often covered with parallel vertical ridges, today known as fluting. Since