A Sogdian Mortuary Couch, Bas Relief, Northern Qi dynasty, A.D. 550–577.
A Sogdian Mortuary Couch, Bas Relief, Northern Qi dynasty, A.D. 550-577.
At least nine stone slabs were once part of an elaborate stone couch (shichuang), a rare type of burial furniture used for the repose of the deceased, carved with an unusual combination of Buddhist and secular themes.
Interesring. The shields have what appears to be coat of arms, or what could be thd beginnings of a coat of arms..
What is interesting is that the shields and helmets are not quite what we have seen on other European knights. As the article pointed out, what the soldiers are wearing are like a small great helm with a face mask, and the mail coif that covers the face except the eyes was rare outside Central Asia and the Islamic world, yet the soldiers' swords are just typical medieval European swords.
Peharps, because the images were of legendary figures of the distant past, the artist slightly modified the images so they didn't exactly look like contemporary knights of his time. That would explain why some of the soldiers the artist shows are wearing turbans, and the almost rounded appearance of the more shields. The artist doesn't want you to think these are contemporary contemporary knights. .
Last edited by Common Soldier; October 15, 2019 at 09:36 AM.