The Armor Court

In my blog posts from the Cleveland Museum of Art, I left off last year with art from the Middle Ages.  When we think of that era we think of knights in shining armor.  So when I returned to the reopened museum last week, I headed to one of its most popular spots, the Armor Court.

If the truth be told, however, most of the objects here date from the 1500s and 1600s.  Europe had passed from the Middle Ages into the modern period.  Kings and nobles still rode out to battle in armor, and knights still competed in tournaments, but as firearms became more powerful, the suit of armor was becoming obsolete.

This tournament armor for Archduke Charles II of Austria dates from 1571 and is made of steel etched with gilding.

Austrian heavy cavalry armor from the early 1600s.  By 1650, cavalry armor was unpractical due to the increasing sophistication of firearms.

A beautifully etched helmet and breastplate from northern Italy, late 1500s.

The so-called "Maximillian style" was popular in the early 1500s.  The fluted steel not only shined brilliantly in the sunlight but also provided additional strength.

This armor for a foot tournament (as opposed to an equestrian joust) comes from Milan, Italy, around 1590.  It is elegantly etched and gilded and lined with red velvet.

Child's armor for young Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria.  It dates from the 1630s and is on loan from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

In the center of the hall is this set of armor for man and horse from northern Italy, around 1575.

As you can see in some of the photos, there are large tapestries which are hung around the Armor Court.  They date from the 1600s and tell the story of Dido and Aeneas from the Roman epic poem "The Aeneid".  In the story, Dido, the Queen of Carthage, falls in love with Aeneas, a wandering survivor of the Trojan War.  The tapestries were designed for the palace of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, the nephew of Pope Urban VIII.  They were owned by the Barberini family until 1889 when they were bought by an art collector.  Eventually they came into the hands of a wealthy Clevelander and were donated to the museum.  The tapestries have hung in the Armor Court since 1916.

The goddess Venus tells Aeneas to go to Carthage.

Cupid, disguised as Aeneas's son, presents gifts to Queen Dido.

Dido shows Aeneas her building plans for Carthage.

Mercury orders Aeneas to leave Carthage.

Aeneas says farewell to Dido.

Heartbroken Dido commits suicide.

Hanging above the Armor Court are copies of regimental banners that date from the 1500s to the 1700s.  The originals once hung here, but by the 1940s they were too fragile to be on display.  Reproductions were created to take their place.

In my next post from the Cleveland Museum of Art, we shall move on to the Italian Renaissance.