Art and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art
By Jonathan Berohn
When you think of great art museums in the US, the Cleveland Museum of Art probably isn't tops on your list. In truth, there are certainly many ways in which it can't compete with some of its more famous brethren like the Met, the Getty, and the National Gallery. Just as certainly, though, you shouldn't pass up the chance of visiting it if you happen to be in Northeastern Ohio.
Features
For one thing, the Cleveland Museum of Art hosts quite a few of the major traveling exhibits. Over the years it has displayed everything from Impressionist Masters to King Tut's treasures. More recent exhibits include Instantaneous Photography and Modern American Masters. In addition to the traveling exhibits, though, the Cleveland Museum of Art has its own very impressive and distinctive collection of works.
From its extensive contemporary exhibit to its new Sub-Saharan African gallery, the Cleveland Museum of Art offers a diversity in pieces and works that you would not expect to find outside of the more famous American museums. One exhibit that really stands out is the newly refurbished armor court. This gallery celebrates the craftsmanship that went into late medieval and early renaissance armor making in a fascinating display of artifacts.
Armor Court
You can see everything from early helms and mail shirts, to the intricate gothic full armor suits that you would associate with the joisting knights of chivalric tales, including a fully armored rider and horse decked out in the most fashionable and well-crafted armor from late 16th century Italy.
Even for those of you not particularly interested in medieval armor and weapons, the appeal of this exhibit should be obvious to those of you with children. My children probably like art museums as much as any 5 and 7 year-olds, but they just don't have the staying power to see more than a few galleries at a time. The Cleveland Museum of Art's Armor Court is the perfect reenergizer for kids. It's not a playground or anything like that, but making the switch form paintings to real live armor and swords perked my kids right up and-more importantly-refreshed them for a couple more galleries that my wife and I wanted to see.
Admission
Oh-and you might have been wondering about admission. It slipped my mind because there is none. That's right admission to the permanent exhibits is free. The only charge you might incur is for some of the traveling exhibits.