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A Visit to the Armor Galleries

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Art Object
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A Visit to the Armor Galleries

Program information

In the 1920s the Metropolitan began to explore filmmaking as part of its educational program, and in 1924 it released two films about arms and armor. In preparation for this new undertaking, Bashford Dean, the head of the Arms and Armor department, sought the advice of Hollywood professionals D. W. Griffith and John Barrymore. Once the scripts were complete, Dean left most of the actual work to his young assistant curators, Stephen V. Grancsay and Thomas T. Hoopes, who also appear in the films. A Visit to the Armor Galleries was especially popular and includes memorable scenes: a Gothic armor steps out of its vitrine to answer visitors' questions about the collection, a seesaw with a small child on one end and a medieval mail shirt on the other demonstrates the relatively modest weight of armor, and a fully armored knight on horseback gallops through Central Park, with Belvedere Castle (the park's weather station) rising picturesquely in the background. When actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr. viewed the film at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, he pronounced it "bully."

Dressing in Steel: Part One

Dressing in Steel: Part One
(00:37:39) 690 views

Dressing in Steel: Part Two

Dressing in Steel: Part Two
(00:20:04) 280 views

A Visit to the Armor Galleries

A Visit to the Armor Galleries
(00:30:21) 4364 views

Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department, 1904&ndash;1929

Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department, 1904–1929
(00:30:12) 227 views

The Art of Arms and Armor: Challenges of Research, Display, and Education

The Art of Arms and Armor: Challenges of Research, Display, and Education
(00:33:09) 321 views

Curators, Collectors, and Dealers: The Growth of the Arms and Armor Collection, 1929 to the Present

Curators, Collectors, and Dealers: The Growth of the Arms and Armor Collection, 1929 to the Present
(00:36:37) 208 views

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Sword

Date:
before 1419
Culture:
European
Medium:
Steel, wood
Dimensions:
Weight, 3 lb. 10 oz. (1644 g) Length, 43 25/32 in. (111.2 cm) Length of blade, 34 7/32 in. (86.89 cm)
Classification:
Swords
Credit Line:
Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Bequest of Bashford Dean, 1928
Accession Number:
29.150.143

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 370

  • Description

    The Arabic inscription engraved on the blade of this sword indicates that it was part of the large group of European arms and armor once stored in the Mamluk arsenal in Alexandria, Egypt. Many of those pieces were taken as booty in the battles between Muslim and Christian armies in the Near East and Aegean regions; others were sent to the sultan as tribute, possibly by the king of Cyprus.
    The inscription reads in translation: "Donation of al-Mālik al Mu`ayyad Abū al-Nasr Shaykh to the armory in the frontier city of Alexandria [in the] year 822 [A.D. 1419]."

  • Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

    Inscription: (one one face, stamped) W; (on other face) a cross

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