This is one of the most elaborate and complete French parade armors, and it retains much of its original coloring. The surfaces are covered by dense foliate scrolls inhabited by human figures and a variety of fabulous creatures that derive from the Italian grotesque. The decoration includes, at the center of the breast, a Roman warrior receiving tribute of arms from two kneeling females and, on the shoulders, Apollo chasing the nymph Daphne (front) and Apollo with the slain monster Python (back). The crescent moon, one of the badges of Henry II (reigned 1547–59), appears in several places.

Twenty original design drawings for this armor survive. One is by Jean Cousin the Elder; the rest are by either Étienne Delaunne or Baptiste Pellerin. All three were distinguished Parisian artists of the mid-sixteenth century.

The battle scene at the center is thought to depict the victory of Hannibal and the Carthaginians over the Romans in Cannae in 216 B.C., which here could be interpreted as an allusion to the struggle of France against the Holy Roman Empire during the sixteenth century. In the strapwork borders are the intertwined letters: H for Henry II (reigned 1547–59); C for Catherine de Médicis, his queen; and possibly also D for Diane de Poitiers, his mistress. Interspersed with the initials are crescents, the king’s personal badge and a reference to the moon goddess Diana and her namesake Diane de Poitiers.

The design is very similar to a series of drawings for the decoration of armor attributed to Etienne Delaune, Jean Cousin the Elder, and Baptiste Pellerin, all artists active in Paris.