Ars Scutae

Ars Scutae Manufacture of shields with a very high level of archaeological accuracy. Specialized in (laminated) Roman shields and homemade natural glues and paints.

Archaeological accuracy is very important to me, so I constantly study archaeological, literary, and iconographic sources. This allows me to create truly accurate replicas when the shield's state of preservation, available information, and specialized studies permit it. I pay close attention to detail and work quality, taking care of every aspect: aesthetic, practical, and historical. I control th

e entire manufacturing process from start to finish, from sawing the wood and making the core, to making and applying the paint, stitching the rim, and forging the umbo. I can use nothing but natural materials for the shields, getting as close as possible to the same materials found in the remains of the specific find you want to replicate. However, I also offer modern materials like plywood at a more economical price. If you have any questions about any of these aspects when ordering your shield, please let me know so I can advise you.

23/06/2026

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗼𝗻𝘀

I've been spending a few days re-reading all the papers I have on Roman finds and taking the opportunity to follow up on new bibliographic references, but I feel that my research will soon come to an end, or at least reach a point of difficult progress due to the exhaustion of academic sources. I'm thinking about new horizons and what type of shield or culture I should choose to focus my study on for the next 5-10 years. Should it be Celtic shields? Germanic tradition shields? Medieval shields in a broad sense, or just large kite shields (I love those shields)? Maybe Hellenistic shields/aspides? Each field has its pros and cons, both from an academic and a craft point of view. Should I choose the difficult path and focus on Hellenistic shields? Making aspides at the level I desire is not a simple task. Or should I lower the complexity and choose flat Germanic type shields? There are many possibilities.

I'm open to your comments.

I've been busy for a few days reading and laying out Spanish translations of some excerpts from recent publications on t...
18/06/2026

I've been busy for a few days reading and laying out Spanish translations of some excerpts from recent publications on the Dura shields, as well as unpublished reports that have been shared with me, and it's confusing to put everything in order since sometimes the information given for the wood, thicknesses, and other things seems contradictory, and it's hard to tell what might be errors and what are later corrections. Cross-referencing between my documents, notes, and references to other publications is starting to become difficult to follow. I wonder if it wouldn't be a better idea to create a new document for each of these shields, read everything again, and try to put everything in order so it serves as a definitive reference document for me.

Photo: Mr. Herbert J. Gute holding a fragment of shield no. 1 at the Dura site sometime between 1932-1935 while painting his watercolor reconstruction.

3,000 followers already!Thank you all very much for your support.
05/06/2026

3,000 followers already!

Thank you all very much for your support.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝘆𝘂𝗺 𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘁.Some photos of the shield in use.The fittings of the Fayum shield are relativ...
04/06/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝘆𝘂𝗺 𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘁.

Some photos of the shield in use.

The fittings of the Fayum shield are relatively well known. The usual name we give them is "transport fittings," but apparently their use is not limited to just that.

There are several reasons, but first let's review. The shield had 8 fittings still in situ, plus a 9th that is missing but whose position we know due to the hole left in the board and by its logical position. Four of these fittings form a square, which in turn can be interpreted, if a strap is passed through in a certain way, as intended to create a pair of straps for carrying the shield on the back like a backpack. Another pair of fittings is located at the top in the center, near the upper edge. The hypothetical use of this pair of fittings is to create a loop for hanging the shield. The relief of the Praetorian from Puteoli seems to show him carrying his shield in a way that seems to match what Fayum and its fittings allow.

But what about the other 3? Two of these fittings serve to create a handle with the cord, similar to the antilabe of a Hellenistic aspis. Gripping this handle together with the right strap of the backpack handle provides a fairly solid grip. The fittings intended for the handle are not the two on either side of the wooden handle - which would seem logical - but rather those located above it. This is explained by noting that the position of this upper handle fitting is aligned with the upper ones that make the backpack handles. Gripping the shield this way is comfortable, whereas if we force a grip on the shield by the ones on either side of the wooden handle, the shield pivots and becomes tilted, resulting in something uncomfortable to manage. Finally, the fitting below the handle seems intended to serve as a guide that aligns the cord in a better way, but it seems dispensable or with a not very clear use to me.

As for handling the shield this way, it is relatively comfortable and could allow for a free hand if positioned near the edge of the shield, which would enable the soldier to wield a spear with both hands or have a greater range of possibilities. For the shield to be comfortable, it must be as light as possible, but despite this, the strap that rests on the forearm ends up being somewhat uncomfortable and painful in the long run.

𝗔 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝘆.A new shield finished in my workshop.The core was made with 2mm yellow pine slats glued with white glue. The c...
02/06/2026

𝗔 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝘆.

A new shield finished in my workshop.

The core was made with 2mm yellow pine slats glued with white glue. The central layer is made of very wide slats, and the shield also replicates a notable feature of the Fayum shield: on both the back and front layers, the cap slats (the topmost and bottommost ones) are extra wide.
The handle is fixed at the geometric center of the shield -unlike Fayum, which is offset upward-. The front face was covered with a horsehide -a single piece- and glued with hide glue. The rim was made with a strip cut from the same hide and sewn with linen thread. The handle -made of oak according to the unique find of a Roman wooden handle from Dura Europos- was glued and nailed with a series of small nails similar to the Fayum shield.

The nails and transport fittings -based on Fayum- were forged, and a tight hand-braided linen cord was arranged through the rings. Unlike my previous reproduction of this system in my Opus Magnum, I wanted to separate the cord into two sections. The nails that secure the spina go through the entire core, are bent over on the back face, and the tip is driven back into the core.

The inspiration for the paint comes from two sources. On one hand, from a shield shown in the Fish Mosaic of Praeneste, and on the other hand, from the Sidon fresco of Salmas, a thureophoroi. The white paint -actually a soft beige- was made with a mixture of French chalk and Italian white earth. The blue was made with a mixture of modern synthetic blue pigment, Italian chalk, and magnetite. Finally, the back face was oiled with linseed oil.

25/05/2026

Drilling some holes by hand to make the central hole.

These were my first two shields: a Viking shield and a Celtiberian shield, in quotes, of course. The round shield was ma...
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.

I needed to take inventory and reorganize my pigments. I just moved some supplies from my old workshop to my current one...
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.

I made a small compilation of images where the wooden spina is present either on non Republican shields (in terms of sha...
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.

𝗛𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱𝘀We know of hexagonal shields mainly through Roman art depicting them as part of the panoply of various ...
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?

Dirección

Tudela

Página web

Notificaciones

Sé el primero en enterarse y déjanos enviarle un correo electrónico cuando Ars Scutae publique noticias y promociones. Su dirección de correo electrónico no se utilizará para ningún otro fin, y puede darse de baja en cualquier momento.

Contacto La Organización

Enviar un mensaje a Ars Scutae:

Atajos

Compartir