Roman Metal Armour-Polished or Dull?

[Tarbicus]

In 15th cent. paintings, plate armor is often shown with a mirror polish, clearly reflecting other objects.

John, can you post a painted example of this armour? I've seen references to this stuff before that indicates the armour in the painting may have been itself painted, gilded, or blackened, and what you see is not the raw metal. The common interpretation was that it was the actual steel which led to the Victorian curators scrubbing the top surface paint from exhibits. The Pre-Raphaelites didn't help, either. Here are some paintings by the likes of Tintoretto, van Dyck, Titian, etc.

http://www.tamsquare.net/pictures/V/Die ... seback.jpg
http://www.tamsquare.net/pictures/V/Die ... rmour-.jpg
http://www.tamsquare.net/pictures/V/Sir ... Racius.jpg
http://www.tamsquare.net/pictures/V/Sir ... Family.jpg
http://www.tamsquare.net/pictures/V/Sir ... -Armor.jpg
http://www.tamsquare.net/pictures/V/Sir ... ngland.jpg
http://www.tamsquare.net/pictures/V/Sir ... ngland.jpg
http://www.tamsquare.net/pictures/V/Sir ... -Armor.jpg
http://images.nortonsimon.org/erez4/cac ... f21948.jpg
http://italophiles.com/images/tin_manarmor.jpg
http://moderato.files.wordpress.com/200 ... =370&h=544

Also, given the status of the individuals involved, do we accept the armour as 'as used in battle', or could it have been commissioned especially for the painting?

Royal Armouries has something to say on the subject:
http://www.glasgowmuseums.com/showExhib ... slideid=19

More here, stating the paint would be oil-based shellac, and that most armour would be painted.
http://www.livesteelarmor.com/hm/hf.html