Description
Through the exceptional permanent collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, this book looks at arms and armor as art—from warfare to war games, from hunting to the pursuit of glory.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s holdings of arms and armor are among the finest of their kind in the world. Presenting nearly 100 masterpieces from the collection, this lavishly illustrated volume includes complete armors and armor elements, swords, firearms and crossbows, staff weapons, horse equipment, and related accessories. Drawn for the most part from the princely armories of Europe, these objects represent the epitome of the armorer’s art, and many are published here in color for the first time. The engaging text by Dirk H. Breiding summarizes the latest scholarship and discusses how the museum’s collection—the core of which consists of a 1977 bequest by the distinguished connoisseur and scholar Carl Otto Kretzschmar von Kienbusch (1884–1976)—has evolved over the years.
This volume reveals how arms and armor—uniting art, fashion, design, politics, and technology—can be seen as unique expressions of human creativity.
"At the top of my list, it’s got to be the brand-new Arms and Armor: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This is one of the great world collections, and it’s (almost) never been published! All the photography was done specially for the book and it’s utterly gorgeous. Curator Dirk Breiding’s text is both scholarly and accessible. A must for anyone interested in the history of European art and culture." Tobias Capwell, Accredited Lecturer and Curator of Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection in London
Dirk H. Breiding is the J. J. Medveckis Associate Curator of Arms and Armor at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
- Author: Dirk H. Breiding
- Hardcover
- Publisher: the Philadelphia Museum of Art, release date June 16, 2020
- 312 pages, 11” x 9”
- 415 color illustrations
- ISBN 9780876332924
