In addition to objects from Europe, the Higgins Collection holds examples of armor from around the world. 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. At the same time, however, armor began to lose ground against firearms. Armorers transformed steel plates into elaborate and refined versions of civilian clothing as well as fantastical, highly decorated fashion statements. 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. 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. 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. “We are honored to share the extraordinary arms and armor from the Higgins Armory Collection with our audiences in Toledo and spotlight armor’s pivotal function in social and political life, in addition to its martial role.” “’The Age of Armor’ will be the first major exhibition at TMA to celebrate the industry and artistry of the armorer’s craft from antiquity to the advent of the modern age,” added Ong. “There are few opportunities for a museum in the United States to exhibit European arms and armor, and TMA looks forward to bringing this exceptional group of objects from the Higgins Armory Collection at the Worcester Art Museum to our community,” said Wright. “With outstanding examples extending from the warriors of ancient Greek legends to the knights of the Middle Ages, this exhibition offers a tremendous opportunity for visitors to take a step back in time and explore the expert craftsmanship and many uses of some of the most significant arms and armor still in existence.”

Tickets are required for entry to the exhibition.

The exhibition premieres in the Toledo Museum of Art’s Levis Gallery Nov. The exhibition is co-curated at TMA by Diane Wright, TMA’s senior curator of glass and contemporary craft, and Sophie Ong, the Museum’s Hirsch curatorial fellow.

“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 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. 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 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.

Armor through the ages