What is the difference between Italian and German armour?

Italian (Milanese) armour is smooth and rounded, turning blows by curved geometry; German 'Gothic' armour is slender and fluted, using pressed ridges to stiffen lighter plate. They represent two engineering solutions to the same problem.

What is Gothic armour?

Gothic armour is the fluted, elongated, pointed style produced in fifteenth-century Germany (chiefly Augsburg and Nuremberg), named by later collectors for its resemblance to Gothic architecture.

What is Maximilian armour?

Maximilian armour is an early-sixteenth-century style — named for Emperor Maximilian I — that combined German fluting with rounder Italian forms, covering the whole harness in parallel flutes.

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Italian vs German Gothic Armour — Milanese Roundness vs Gothic Flutes

The two great fifteenth-century armour traditions compared: the smooth, rounded Milanese style of Italy and the fluted, pointed Gothic style of Germany — form, function and workshops.