This temporary exhibition celebrates the 50 years of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich by displaying 22 objects related to the knightly tournament culture. Curated by Raphael Beuing, head of the Arms and Armour department of the museum, the exhibition takes places in one room of the museum, being what they call a “studio exhibition”. Even if small, much work has been put there and every bit is worth seeing.
It displays carefully chosen paintings, manuscripts, prints, arms and armour. See some of the installations here, and read about my favourite ones below.
The 1561 fight book of Joachim Meyer
Displayed for the first time in more than 100 years, the recently rediscovered manuscript is installed in a case with 3 other books. It is opened in one of the most beautiful illustrations. Other chosen images are on display on a screen, highlighting the different martial disciplines covered in the manuscript (longsword, dussack, dagger, staff, halberd, pike and fighting in armour on foot).
The rediscovery of this manuscript is due to the diligence of Olivier Dupuis, when doing some more research when we were preparing the proceedings of the 2020 conference on Joachim Meyer at the University of Strasbourg. This manuscript was believed to be a war loss in the historiography, in fact it never left the shelves of the museum. I was pleased to study it with Olivier last summer, and our research led to the publication of this article in the journal Acta Periodica Duellatorum, along with the complete set of images of the manuscript. For the European martial arts specialist, this unique fight book represents a missing link in the constellation of the works of Joachim Meyer (including the 1570 print and two more manuscripts). For the non-specialist, it is a very nice feature of the exhibition drawing attention to the fight book corpus, and highlighting the discipline of fighting in armour on foot, next to all these knightly tournament objects.
The weapons’ case
The curator of the exhibition dared the crossing of swords in a museum case, which is not common. This results not only in a very nice and balanced display, but each object is a masterpiece. The arms and armour collection of the museum include very nice and unique objects on permanent display. Choosing which object to remove from the permanent display or to dust off the storage room must have been a difficult endeavour. He chose wisely by displaying one of the very few longsword with a long ricasso, a stunning rapier with a goldened guard and a very rare and well conserved buckler. Wonders for the eyes.
The tournament figures
Rare objects, these small 16th c. action figures on horse are very special. Knees, shoulders, elbows and hands can move and the armour and the swords are metal carefully chiselled. The details and quality behind it leave few doubts on their production by skilled craftsmen, probably armourers. These objects have been specially investigated and even X-rayed for the preparation of the exhibition.
A small exhibition catalogue is coming very soon, with a contribution of your humble servant, written with Olivier Dupuis on the Joachim Meyer 1561 manuscript and the context of urban fencing in the 16th c. I’ll add a link of this work here once it’s out and cleared for sharing.
If you happen to pass by Munich, do not miss the opportunity to discover the exhibition! Check the website.