Ars Scutae

25/05/2026

Drilling some holes by hand to make the central hole.

25/05/2026

These were my first two shields: a Viking shield and a Celtiberian shield, in quotes, of course. The round shield was made with thick oak planks with no facing, and the Celtiberian shield has a huge spina. Remember that we all start somewhere, but the important thing is to improve.

21/05/2026

I needed to take inventory and reorganize my pigments. I just moved some supplies from my old workshop to my current one so I can have everything in one place. Some of these large 1.5l containers are half-empty or less than one-third full, so I plan to transfer them to smaller containers to save space.
Under the table, on some plastic shelves, are my pigments in well-labeled glass jars, ready to use and easily accessible. The boxes are the leftovers I keep in a corner. All this boxes are full.

20/05/2026

I made a small compilation of images where the wooden spina is present either on non Republican shields (in terms of shape) or during the 1st-2nd centuries AD.

As you know, lately one of the aspects I've been focusing on is trying to uproot this strongly established myth that popular belief holds, in which this element is thought to have disappeared either with the Republican shield or before the turn of the era. A well constructed spine can be lighter than some umbos.

Some of these images are from a gladiatorial context, others from a military one.

19/05/2026

𝗛𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱𝘀

We know of hexagonal shields mainly through Roman art depicting them as part of the panoply of various barbarian tribes. But what about their use among the Romans themselves?

This is an extremely elusive and thorny issue. The only reliable depiction of a curved scutum with this geometry comes from Tripoli. Another depiction, a simpler one, is the representation of the Battle of Actium.

My thinking is that the same thing is happening here as with the trapezoidal shield, of which we have undeniably Roman archaeological remains, yet its representation in art is limited to a couple of examples.

Are these rarely used geometries, or is it survivor bias?

13/05/2026

For some time now, part of my research has focused on aspects of shields that need to be reexamined and debated. As you can see from my latest works, one of them is the use of spinas in post Republican shield types. Here is a beautiful example of a Murmillo with a rectangular shield with a spina. This terracotta is dated between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.

These examples are not rare, and can be seen with some frequency on military shields as well.

08/05/2026

Morning of painting.

I’m putting the finishing touches on a shield, and as usual, one of the last stages is painting it. I prepared paint based on hide glue, which required several tests to get the correct glue-to-water ratio, as well as the right amount of pigment to achieve proper opacity and flow.

Most of the shield is a light beige tone, almost like an off-white. To achieve this, I mixed French chalk with an Italian earth. Because of the use of white pigment, the paint appears transparent until it dries, as hydrated chalk is almost translucent.

This is the result after a couple of coats.

07/05/2026

This little thing is always a challenge.

29/04/2026

Occasionally, Roman art shows shields with striking grip systems that fall outside what the archaeological record teaches us. These grips range from plausible methods to others that directly defy logic and usability. In one of the early scenes of Trajan's Column, we see what appears to be a vertical handle, and this isn't an isolated representation, as it repeats on at least one other occasion. I usually don't give too much importance to certain details on shields in art, since it's incapable of offering answers about materials and construction techniques, and the physical remains are what truly matter to me, but the question struck me: does it really represent a vertical handle, or is it a shield rotated 90 degrees? Looking at the rest of the Column, the simplest answer is to think that it really is a vertical handle, and remembering the Roman Danum shield, which supposedly has a vertical handle — although I have some doubts — seems to reinforce my thinking a bit.

28/04/2026

You can follow the work of the illustrator Velite Aquila. He has been basing some of his designs on my work, such as in this illustration of an Italic soldier where you can see the double seam line of the Fayum shield, the fittings along with the rope that runs through them, and the nailed handle.

More information about the original shield here: https://www.facebook.com/arsscutae/posts/pfbid027zP48TbxU4Goyx9BeZXUNQwxqFRWp6LoDK693pFP7SDxyqRc6Mu1N2i4RQkma5Twl

Italian socius, late 3rd to mid 2nd century B.C.