There are also important loans of paintings from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, loans from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Albertina and the Wien Museum in Vienna, and Ambras Castle in Innsbruck, as well as fragile, rarely exhibited and newly restored artifacts from the holdings of the Imperial Armory. Some of these artifacts have never been shown outside their home collections and were extensively restored for the exhibition. Masterpieces from the Imperial Armory in Vienna - the world's most important collection of its kind - form the heart of the exhibition.Īlso on show are loans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Real Armeria in Madrid, the Wallace Collection in London, and the Ronald S. This meant that walking, running, and jumping was not a problem. In order to ensure this flexibility, plate armor comprises numerous individual pieces, often as many as 200. Otherwise clunky, immobile armored men would have faced off on Europe's battlefields during the 15th and 16th centuries. The protective clothing was designed to ensure the wearer could move with ease. The museum explained that despite suits of armor weighing around 44 to 66 pounds, the weight was distributed over the entire body. They were used as protection against infantry weapons, including pikes, arrows and crossbows.īut changes in warfare, such as the development of firearms and cannon, played a major role in the demise of the armor as military protective clothing.Īlla romana armor for Guidobaldo della Rovere (1514–1574) at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna illustrates the various design styles, depending on period and country.

Complete suits of armor were devised between the early 15th and the first half of the 17th centuries to successfully fend off lances and swords. The first fully functioning sets of armor were produced in northern Italy in the early 15th century, and they reached their apex during the following two centuries. The museum also dispels another myth, arguing that 'armor, or to be exact, plate armor that completely encases the wearer's body, is not a medieval phenomenon, but dates from the early modern era.'

But literary and historical documents tell of women wearing armor and participating in battles, which countered contemporary expectations of female gender-specific behavior.' Wearing armor was regarded as a male domain and celebrated in early-modern chivalry. The museum said: 'Very much a male piece of clothing, armor was closely connected with the construction and display of masculinity. KHM-Museumsverband/ZengerĪnd wearing suits of armor was not just something for men, women also wore them.

While the museum said Renaissance armor was primarily a form of protective clothing worn on the battlefield and during a tournament, the imposing clothing did play a central role in the life of a nobleman.Ī lion’s head burgonet made for Emperor Charles V (1500–1558) at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The museum's 'Iron Men – Fashion in Steel' exhibition explores 'the prominent role armor played in early-modern society, art and culture,' illustrating 'its importance as a political and dynastic symbol, as a diplomatic gift, as a personal and historical souvenir, and, last but not least, as fashionable steel attire and a fantastic, symbolic disguise - across religious, ideological, and gender boundaries.' Instead, the museum, in a statement explains these misconceptions are largely the product of 19th century views and contemporary films, from 'Ivanhoe' to 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' to 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Game of Thrones.' The exhibition hopes to dispel the contemporary myths and stereotypes seen in Hollywood films of the 'medieval warrior both brave and manly but also immobile and clumsy, encased in heavy steel armor apparently designed solely for fighting - whether on the battlefield or in tournaments, a sport that seems savage and martial to a modern-day spectator.' The exhibition video demonstrates the suits of armor are so well-made their wearers can do somersaults in them.Īlso included is a rather uncomfortable-looking piece, a steel corset from the Wallace Collection in London, England, which was made by Eleonora of Toledo, Duchess of Florence, with two cut-outs for the wearer's breasts to fit through. A display from the Kunsthistorisches Museum exhibition, noting the fashionable aspects of armor.

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