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17 août 2021

Major exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art to showcase some of the most exceptional European arms and armor in existence

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Helmet in the form of a Sea Conch Shell, 1618, Nagasone Tojiro Mitsumasa (Japanese, 1600s), iron with traces of lacquer and textiles, The John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection, 2014.89.1. © 2020 Worcester Art Museum.

The image of the knight in shining armor is familiar from fairy tales, films and games, but what was the reality behind the myth? Armor is as old as human civilization and has taken many forms and served many purposes through the ages. A new exhibition explores armor made for the battlefield, tournaments and ceremonies, highlighting armor’s practical function, and its cultural role as a symbol of personal identity, social prestige and the values of a heroic past. The Age of Armor: Treasures from the Higgins Armory Collection at the Worcester Art Museum presents European suits of armor from one of the most important and largest collections of the material in the U.S. The exhibition of more than 80 works focuses on the development and history of the classic knightly suit of plate armor, which was used from the mid-1300s to the mid-1600s, as well as how armor has been used in various forms around the globe, from antiquity to the modern era.

The Age of Armor: Treasures from the Higgins Armory Collection at the Worcester Art Museum is curated by Jeffrey Forgeng, The Higgins Curator of Arms & Armor and Medieval Art at WAM. The exhibition is co-curated at Toledo Museum of Art by Diane Wright, TMA’s senior curator of glass and contemporary craft, and Sophie Ong, the Museum’s Hirsch curatorial fellow.

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Greek, Corinthian Helmet, 550–450 BCE, bronze. The John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection, 2014.30© 2020 Worcester Art Museum.

The comprehensive exhibition narrates the story of how armor evolved, how it was constructed and how it has impacted our cultural memory. The Age of Armor begins by inviting viewers to trace the progressive use of metals such as bronze, iron and steel for armor and weapons from ancient Egypt to ancient Greece and the time of the legendary Trojan War, when the increased importance of the foot-soldier coupled with the emergence of democracy. The exhibition continues into the Middle Ages, when knights with expensive iron coats of mail, as well as swords, lances and horses came to dominate the battlefield. For better protection, knights were soon to be covered from head to toe in suits of plate armor ultimately generating the popular and nostalgic image of the chivalrous knight in shining armor. Armorers transformed steel plates into elaborate and refined versions of civilian clothing as well as fantastical, highly decorated fashion statements. At the same time, however, armor began to lose ground against firearms.

The exhibition also examines the complex and specialized craft of armor-making and decorating, one of the most industrialized and innovative processes of its day. In addition to objects from Europe, the Higgins Collection holds examples of armor from around the world.Armor from Asia, Africa and the Indian subcontinent will be on display to connect and contrast with their European counterparts. The Age of Armor concludes with the decline of armor’s utility and its eventual revival in the modern era, as it continues to exert a powerful hold over our imaginations and as collectibles.

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Pompeo della Cesa (Milan, about 1537–1610), Field Armor from a Garniture, about 1595, steel, iron, brass, gold, silver, leather, fabric. The John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection, 2014.112© 2020 Worcester Art Museum.

Among the numerous object highlights are a bronze Corinthian helmet from 600-500 B.C.E; Italian and Gothic-style German infantry breastplates from the late 1400s; stylish steel “Maximilian” field armor from about 1525-30; the left gauntlet for Prince (later King) Philip of Spain’s 1549-50 suit of armor known as the Flowers Garniture; a three-quarter field armor probably made for Henry Herbert, second Earl of Pembroke in the 1560s; a 16th-century German mail coat that was exported to the Ottoman Empire and then northern Africa where it was lengthened for better leg protection; muskets and pistols from the 1600s; a flamboyant late feudal Japanese helmet in the form of a sea conch shell dating to 1618; and a russeted steel and goldhelmet with mail neck-guard from 19th-century Sudan.

The Age of Armor: Treasures from the Higgins Armory Collection at the Worcester Art Museum was organized by the Worcester Art Museum. The exhibition is sponsored locally by presenting sponsors Taylor Cadillac and Susan and Tom Palmer, as well as 2021 Exhibition Program sponsor ProMedica, with additional support from the McLoughlin Family Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council.

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"Maximilian” Field Armor, about 1525 – 1530, Southern German, steel, iron, and leather with modern restorations, The John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection, 2014.111. © 2020 Worcester Art Museum

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Italian, Milan, Three-Quarter Field Armor, possibly for Henry Herbert, second Earl of Pembroke, 1560–1570, steel (once blued) with gilding, brass, iron, with modern leather. The John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection, 2014.12© 2020 Worcester Art Museum

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