On October 7 of 2019, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art opened an exhibition called The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximillian I. This display is an ambitious undertaking, featuring more than 180 pieces from museums and collections throughout America, Europe and the Middle East. Maximillian’s passion for the trappings of knighthood and chivalry were expressed not just in the armor-maker’s art, but also in painting, stained glass, manuscripts, and even in the new (for the time) artistic medium of the printing press. The exhibition will run through January 5, 2020.

While it is on display, this collection will certainly attract enthusiasts and experts from all over the world – and one of them is Dr. Tobias Capwell, arms and armor curator at the Wallace Collection. Although he hasn’t visited the Maximillian gallery yet, he’ll be traveling to New York in just a few days to do so … and by happy coincidence, a team of folks from Chivalry Today, including podcast host Scott Farrell, will also be in New York to visit the exhibition later this month.

So, before our respective visits, we thought it would be interesting to compare notes to get a sense of what to expect in this exhibition, why Maximillian had such a profound influence on the image of knighthood and chivalry, and how an acclaimed exhibition like this looks from the perspective of an art historian and curatorial expert.

Dr. Capwell joins host Scott Farrell to share some pre-visit thoughts on the Maximilian exhibit, to help all of us understand the significance of this gallery, and to give some context on how a German Renaissance prince helped shape our image of knighthood and chivalry in the 21st century.

 

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Visit The Last Knight multimedia experience at the Met’s website;

Learn more about the galleries at The Wallace Collection

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