Knights had their day in the historical sun when fighting featured grueling hand-to-hand combat with swords, shields and lances. For centuries, they were the top of the food chain, elite fighters and part of the aristocracy.
Eventually, firearms made standing armies more economical and rendered the knight’s armor less effective. But the mystique of chivalry and knighthood lives on, even centuries later.
Fernbank Museum recently placed on display a collection of more than 120 pieces of vintage medieval armor and weaponry from Frederick Stibbert, an Italian-born 19th-century arts collector and financier. “Knights in Armor” will run through May 15 in the museum’s temporary galley space.
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Bobbi Hohmann, Fernbank vice president of programming and collections who has been with the museum since 2002, said she was impressed by the quality, craftsmanship and detail of the armor and related objects. “We also can often identify which specific workshop particular armor came from based on the techniques they used,” she said, noting that most came from Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Belgium.
Many of Stibbert’s pieces are from the 15th to 17th centuries.
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Hohmann said she hopes the exhibit will appeal to a broad audience given the presence of knights over the years in books, film and video games. The 1970s and 1980s featured films such as “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” “The Princess Bride” and “Willow.” “A Knight’s Tale” helped solidify Heath Ledger as a rising star in 2001 and the HBO series “Game of Thrones” became that network’s biggest hit of the 2010s.
She also noted the enduring popularity of Medieval Times in Duluth and the annual Georgia Renaissance Fair in Fairburn, which runs from April 9 through May 30.
Riccardo Franci, the curator for the Museo Stibbert in Florence, Italy, where the objects normally reside, said Stibbert had far more items in storage than could be displayed in the museum at any one time, even with 60 exhibition rooms. By showing exhibitions around the world, the museum ― which draws about 30,000 visitors a year ― is able to expose its wares to a far broader audience.
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Franci said he purposely curated the collection to show a wide variety of pieces. “Some pieces were intended as status symbols,” Franci said, “to simply show the power and the riches of the owner of the piece. Some were intended for war. Others were for jousting, for tournaments or war games.”
Some of the armor is so elaborate, “it becomes almost non-functional,” Hohmann noted.
The armor also shows how much smaller human beings were at the time, even their most athletic of men. “I couldn’t fit in any of it,” Franci said.
But he said not all armor was necessarily “heavy or uncomfortable to wear. The highest-level armor were made like dresses. They were measured specifically to each body and enabled the men to move around easily.”
High-end was not cheap, though. “It’s like buying a Ferrari today,” he said.
Franci, who is 45, became fascinated by knights as a child seeing the 1971 fantasy Disney film “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” starring Angela Lansbury, which blended animation and live action. “I was absolutely fascinated,” he said. Being able to oversee such a vast collection of armor and armory is an honor, he added.
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
He came to Atlanta to help install the exhibit. “Some of the pieces are quite complicated,” he said. “Full suits of armor must be completely laced. I know how do it so I came here for that.”
The exhibit starts with a basic background on the era, then jumps into the biggest visual wow: two fully-armored knights mounted on horses prepping for a jousting tournament.
Hohmann, while giving a tour with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, pointed out how the jousting armor features all sorts of extra features entirely unnecessary for battle like special counterweights to hold the lance in place and winged elements to deflect the opposing lance.
“The more you look at these pieces, the more you are amazed by the artistry and craftsmanship,” she said. “The very first piece we display in the entrance is boy’s armor where every square inch of that piece has been etched.”
While some of the design elements are mythological or war-related, others are more whimsical. “We’ve got scenes of country gentlemen and standard Renaissance motifs,” she said, while walking through the exhibit. “Here’s a harp and musical instruments.”
There is an area focused on weapons, including elaborate swords, pole arms and daggers, some used by bodyguards for royalty. There is a section for helmets, some of which could inspire a horror movie or two.
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
“Some of them do creep me out,” Hohmann noted. On one, “it’s the smirk that gets me!” Another one, she mused, “is like ‘Silence of the Lambs.’”
The last section of the exhibit features 19th-century replicas of knight-related shields, armor and weapons as nostalgia for aspects of medieval times inspired artisans of the time. “People think of reproductions as fake,” she said. “But these are from the 1800s and are historic. They weren’t created out of plastic or a 3D printer.”
Overall, Hohmann was impressed by how well maintained the pieces are.
“It almost looks like they can’t date that old,” she said.
IF YOU GO
“Knights in Armor”
Through May 15. $24.95; $22.95 children; $23.95 senior citizens. Fernbank Museum, 767 Clifton Road, Atlanta. 404-929-6300, fernbankmuseum.org.
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