Chevaliers

In collaboration with Stibbert Museum (Florence, Italy)

Chevaliers (“Knights”) is an exhibition presenting European weapons and armour from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Many of the objects are masterpieces, and their incredible beauty, along with the artistic savoir-faire of the period’s craftsmen, are on display for all to admire.

The goal of this exhibition is to breathe life into the emblematic figure of the knight, his chivalric code, his relationship to war, his place in society, and public demonstrations of his status, like customary tournaments and jousts.

The renewed interest in chivalric objects was part of the Gothic-Romantic revival that defined much of 19^th-century Europe. Frederick Stibbert (1838-1906) was a wealthy financier and avid collector who devoted his life to collecting artworks, along with both European and non-European armour and weaponry. Today, his armoury is considered one of the finest in Europe and is on display at the museum bearing his name in Florence, Italy.

Thanks to the over 150 original objects from the Stibbert collection, this exhibition will allow us to explore the figure of the knight. New themes will also be explored, like French and Breton chivalry, the role of women in this very masculine world, and the myth of the knight in the arts, literature, and film in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. This exhibition was curated by the Stibbert Museum and recently shown in the USA. It will now be presented in Europe for the first time