Five of us from the Historic Equitation team went to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, to see their “Last Knight” exhibit, our end of season team outing.
This is becoming a habit for me. My last trip to the States was while my other half was 32 weeks pregnant with our son. This time she was 30 weeks pregnant with our daughter.
The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I examines the profound significance of European armor at the dawn of the Renaissance, through the lens of Emperor Maximilian I’s (1459–1519) remarkable life. On view only at The Met, The Last Knight coincides with the five-hundredth anniversary of Maximilian’s death, and is the most ambitious North American loan exhibition of European arms and armor in decades. Including 180 objects selected from some thirty public and private collections in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, The Last Knight will explore how Maximilian’s unparalleled passion for the trappings and ideals of knighthood served his boundless worldly ambitions, imaginative stratagems, and resolute efforts to forge a lasting personal and family legacy.
The exhibition, according to The Met
The plan, so far for me, had been, get to the train station, get on a train to the airport, sit on a plane for ages to get to JFK, find a taxi to get to the hotel.
We all arrived late into NYC, and most of us found ourselves sat in a italian restaurant, eating pizza. We had all converged from round the world, and somehow managed to be sat in the same restaurant, at the same time, several thousand miles from home, making a game plan for the next few days.
“It’s the most important exhibit of armour in a generation” – Dr. Tobias Capwell, curator of arms and armour at the Wallace collection in London. While he was here on work duties, we were here to oggle the armour, take notes, and take a lot of pictures.
And oggle we did; in total we spent 4 days in the museum looking at armour, gaining cool tidbits of info, looking at the awesome armour, exploring, and looking at the armour.
Anyway, back to the main attraction, The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I. Without spoiling or giving too much away, let’s start at the beginning. There we were, in the line for opening at 10am, we rush through the museum following signs to the exhibit. Naturally we are the 1st there.
The Entrance to the empty exhibit looks like a book cover…
The 1st thing that struck me about the exhibition, is how many of these objects I’ve seen online, on Pinterest, in books… seeing this all in one place at the same time. It’s normally scattered all-round the world.
Some of the highlights for me – there were so many more cool things there – this is not an exhaustive list, but anyway…
Whats cool is it has his notes / alterations for the artist for the final version.
Joust of War between Christoph Lamberger and Freydal, Design for Freydal
Date: ca. 1512–15
Smaller than it looks on the internet..
Helm Padding for the Joust
Date: 1484
Design for an Equestrian Monument of Emperor Maximilian I
Hans Burgkmair (German, Augsburg 1473–1531 Augsburg)
So Epic!
Shaffron of Maximilian I
Conrad Seusenhofer (Austrian, Innsbruck, died 1517)
Weiner Horse …
Excellent Chronicle of Flanders
Continuation written by Anthonis de Roovere (South Netherlandish, Bruges ca. 1430–1482 Bruges)
Cuirass of an Armor of Philip I
Master of the Crowned H (Netherlandish, active 1477–1500)
Looks like a well used piece of armour.
Armor for the Italian Joust of Peace of Gaspare Sanseverino d’Aragona
Missaglia workshop (Italian, Milan, recorded 1430–1529)
Weirdly displayed.
Foot Combat Armor of Giuliano de’ Medici
Attributed to Conrad Seusenhofer (Austrian, Innsbruck, died 1517)
Ive got to figure out how to make some of these for my son.
Toy Jouster Armed for the Joust of War
Date: ca. 1505
You cant appreciate how small and well formed this is, unless you see it in situ.
Cuirass of a Armor of Philip I
Master of the Crowned H (Netherlandish, active 1477–1500)
So much detail – the more you look, the more you see.
Saint George and the Dragon
Date: last third 15th century
Hench banner pole holder.
Armored Saddle with Iron Hand
Date: ca. 1500–1510
Ive drooled over this on the internet for ages. Now Ive seen it in person – i want it.
Portions of an Armor for the Joust of Peace of Maximilian I
Lorenz Helmschmid (German, Augsburg, ca. 1445–1516)
Now can go round a meuseum, look t stuff take pictures, read ye info boards…i don’t necessarily appreciate the details of what I’m seeing. The benifit of going round with a group like ours, with Dominic, with Toby. Being told why the pieces are so significant. What makes this bit so significant, why this piece is here ….
The details I’d never know, but at pointed out to me, but our group all has a unique view and a reason for been there .. all can add their knowledge to the collective group. I think we all learned alot.
While we did spend alot of time there , in the Maximilian exhibition. We did spend alot of time else where ( they have a lot of stuff at he met) and again, it was really cool seeing stuff I’ve seen online in images in the actual flesh. The people’s photos I’ve seen online to this point are their views, their focuses, the zoom in on the details that they are interested on.
Take for example this shield below.. I’ve never seen it from this angle … as some one that makes shields to be used for modern day jousting … This view is priceless.
Being there, I can see all the details. Take photos of the bits that are relevant to me. It’s going make what I do better. It’s also inspired me to change what Im building