The importance of the exhibition Age of Chivalry: Art in Plantagenet England 1200-1400, now at the Royal Academy in London, lies largely in its uniqueness. Nothing quite like it has ever been done before, and in view of the monumental effort involved in its organization, there can be little expectation its like will ever be done again. With a prodigious catalog listing 748 items, this is one of the most ambitious and costly projects the Royal Academy has ever undertaken.
The emphasis throughout the exhibition is on authenticity. There is nothing theatrical, nothing falsely spectacular, no reproductions. What we have is a remarkable and deeply scholarly display of medieval or Gothic art, with sculpture set against its architectural background, brilliant stained glass, glowing precious jewelry, exquisite illuminated manuscripts, and many other objects of great rarity and beauty. The influence of this show could well be both wide and lasting.
The title Age of Chivalry is an attractive one, bringing out as it does one of the central themes of the exhibition, that of the devoted Christian knight. The subtitle Art in Plantagenet England 1200-1400 is, however, more explicit and comprehensive. This is the portrait of an age. Far from being the best-known period of English history, this was a time in which the national creative energies were at a peak, when a tiny population was building a score of great cathedrals and thousands of parish churches, castles, libraries, and palaces, all embellished with the greatest art of their time. To bring this period, which as perhaps been obscure to all but scholars, into the limelight is a major achievement.
Monarchical Splendor
A lovely bejeweled royal crown strikes a keynote at the beginning of the exhibition and in many ways epitomized what is to come. Twelve golden lilies in a circlet are decorated with sapphires, rubies, diamonds, pearls, and enamel, making a beautiful object, described in the catalogue as "one of the finest achievements of the Gothic goldsmith." Alas for national pride, its home is now Germany, as it left England in the dowry of Blanche, daughter of Henry IV, when she married a Bavarian prince in 1401. Earlier, it may have belonged to Anne of Bohemia, queen of the ill-fated Richard II, whom she married in 1382. A worthy introduction to the exhibition, it is the earliest extant English medieval royal crown.
The galleries are arranged according to a chronological framework, taking us through the reigns of five English kings: Henry III, Edward I (the Hammer of the Scots), Edward II, Edward III (father of the Black Prince), and Richard II. Of these, two were murdered, and none had an easy reign, variously fighting crusades and wars against the feudal baronage, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and France. In the centuries since, two kings have gone mad, one has been beheaded, another deposed, one killed in battle, and there was one who abdicated. The monarchy itself has endured, part of the continuous stream of history from the Norman Conquest onward, with one temporary interruption. Its powers were suitably encompassed by the clauses of Magna Carta--the 1297 issue of the 1215 original being in the exhibition.
Monarchy was the cornerstone of feudal society. Its monarchs used device of display, ostentation, power, and wealth to buttress their position and
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