National Art Gallery

Hello, I'm David Brown, curator of Italian and Spanish paintings at the National Gallery of Art. The treasures in our exhibition, The Art of Power, Royal Armor, and Portraits from Imperial Spain, come from the royal armory in Madrid. They range from the 15th to the 17th century and include some of the finest examples of Renaissance armor in the world. Fabricated by master craftsmen and artists, the flower of Spanish royalty. This is parade armor, made for show, not combat. In form, it looks back to a world tournaments, jousts, and noble gesture. And among the images worked into the steel is something quite different, a subtle advertising campaign for the imperial ambitions of the Spanish monarchy and the Hapsburg dynasty. Those who wore it took the words Holy, Roman, and Empire very seriously.