Now that we’ve installed our new Medieval Galleries, featuring a selection of objects from the Higgins Armory Collection, we have started to incorporate arms and armor into other parts of the Museum as well. Come check out the helmets recently added to the [remastered] paintings gallery. The one shown below is from the early 1600s and weighs a punishing 10 ½ lbs. It’s a siege helmet, for use in fortifications rather than on the march, and it’s made to be proof against musket balls. In fact, there are two bullet marks in the rear, evidence that it saved someone’s life more than once.
Watch the galleries over the next few months as we begin to install some suits of armor to keep company with our spectacular collection of Renaissance paintings!
- Jeffrey L. Forgeng, Curator of Arms & Armor and Medieval Art
Photographs: Kim Noonan / Worcester Art Museum
Welcome to WAM Updates
WAM Updates are short, informal posts that put the spotlight on small, but exciting, Museum-related projects, such as the addition of a new painting or sculpture to a gallery. They also serve as updates on staff, new services or programs, and other WAM news.
We hope you like reading the Updates! If you are interested in learning about something specific, or have a suggestion for a WAM Update, please update us at wamupdates@worcesterart.org
Recent WAM Updates
-
1. What was the Silk Road? The Silk Road was not a single road at all, but a network of trade routes connecting China to trade partners ...
-
Many people believe that the representation of figures is forbidden in Islamic religion and culture, but this is false. The Qur’an, in fact,...
-
Islamic art covers a vast geographical and chronological spectrum, from Spain to Southeast Asia over 1400 years. Though, despite all the dif...
-
"Anvil" (Italian, 1400s-1500s). Wrought Iron. The John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection, 2014.1031 One afternoon, while l...
-
The Worcester Hunt Mosaic is one of the most impressive and iconic objects within the Worcester Art Museum. In addition to being among the ...