Breastplate and The caressed breast are fictitious names of a relief in Amsterdam-Centre .

The image is located in the pavement of the Oudekerksplein on the side of the Oude Kerk . The copper tile shows two breasts and a hand grasping one of them. This statue, like other statues, was placed anonymously at night and is attributed to The Unknown Sculptor , who was credited with a whole series of works of art, without it being known whether it is indeed a single person.

The statue was buried at that location one night in February 1993 by that unknown person. Local residents complained and the Municipal Management was also not happy and urged its removal. Several reasons were given for this:

• inappropriate in this rustic place, although Ouderkerksplein is located in the middle of the red light district of Amsterdam: De Wallen
• noise pollution (due to hitting the bronze statue and associated reverberation in a water collection basin below)
• the municipality, or at least Stedelijk Beheer, was tired of posting these images anonymously.

The councilor for Arts Affairs Ernst Bakker was happy with the initiative to enrich the city with images. An interesting detail was that one of the complainants was Bakker’s secretary; she was bothered by the reverberation. Stedelijk Beheer decided to remove it anyway, while Stedelijk Beheer councilor Rick ten Have was busy drafting a letter to leave it alone. Bakker and Ten Have had a disagreement about this course of events. When removing it, it was found that a large chunk of concrete had been riveted to it and the installation must not have been a minor operation.