From April to August 2024 The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia had an exhibition of Samurai Armor from the Collection of Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller. This collection is one of the largest and most refined privately owned collections in the world.
As part of an ongoing portfolio, I created a digital exhibition with my own photography of the exhibit. My digital exhibition of The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts itself is located here.
The exhibit featured over 140 pieces from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection, spanning between the 14th to the 19th century.
Waking up early one Saturday and flipping though my phone, I wondered if anything new was going on at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Upon checking the website, I spotted this exhibition on display. A quick decision and an hour and a half drive later, I arrived at the museum. The entryway alone looked incredible (pictured above) the design was simple, yet still filled me with wonder.
I've always loved Japanese culture, and having traveled to some museums, I have seen a few sets of Samurai armor over the years. Typically though, its just been one suit or pieces of armor, I'd never seen anything like this exhibit and was extremely excited. So were a lot of other people, it turned out to have been a good idea as the line was long the whole time I was at the museum.
The Exhibit, broken into parts.
Samurai Armor
The first part of the exhibition started with three full sets of armor and other assorted pieces. I've seen stirrups before, but never a saddle. This exhibition had several pairs, and it was really neat getting to see them next to each other.
The exhibit had visual aids for the armor, breaking it down via era. I learned the suits of armor I usually identify in media appear to be a mixture of Mid-Heian-Kamakura period (11-13th century) and Momoyama-Edo (16th - 17th century).
The first set of armor was breathtaking, Armor of the Nuinobedō Type, from the Mōri Family. I loved the contrasting blue and white of the armor against the black and red of the fan, then the shimmer of gold from the helmet. Completed by a set of a bow, arrows, and a katana, the set was beautiful.
It was amazing being able to look up close at the detail of the varying crafting techniques combined to create these unique and intricate pieces. From a distance these pieces are breathtaking, and just as much so up-close.
Components
Sets of Medieval European armor require padding and cloth beneath them, and these Samurai sets were no different.
This part of the exhibition was dedicated to breaking down the armor, and explaining items such as jinbaori (surcoat), hitatare (jacket), hakama (pants), kote (sleeves), and suneate (shin guards).
One of my favorite parts of this section was two of the full sets of armor. One was for an adult, and the other for a child. I learned that Samurai children started training around the age of three, when they received their first wooden sword. At the age of twelve came the coming-of-age ceremony, in which the child was gifted a set of armor. Their training then continued as an apprenticeship, lasting until the boy turned twenty years old.
Evolution of Helmets
This part was fascinating. I'd only seen helmets with the few sets of armor, until now. I had no idea how unique and important the helmets were until I saw this exhibit. The concept was simple enough, the easiest part of the armor for any troop to be able to spot on their commanders was the helmet. Due to this, Samurai began putting papier-mâché figures on top of the metal helmets, customizing them to easily be identified by their soldiers.
This led to a huge variety of helmets, typically inspired by aspects of the world around them, nature being a large example. There was a small collection of foreign helmets and it was fascinating to see what parts of the art other cultures took to make their own.
This part of the exhibit focused specifically on helmets, but also had a lot of masks, which were just as customized and fascinating to see.
Armor in Times of Peace
While staying just as customized, these beautiful examples are even more intricately detailed as they were more ornamental during peacetimes. These pieces still held the same ideals, being easily seen and identifiable. Some of the armor would have been made specifically for things like overseeing a battle, instead of fighting in it.
Weapons and Command Equipment
This part of the exhibit focused on the tools used during wartime. I'd never seen Samurai bamen (horse mask) before, and getting to see a few up close was really cool. There were multiple saddles as well, and another thing I'd never seen, fire capes. Samurai during peacetimes picked up firefighting due to the importance of it, and they had specific bright red capes to wear to easily be identified.
There was a beautiful butterfly battle standard, banner, and war drum amongst the collection. The bow itself made me audibly gasp, as I had no idea how big it actually was. The bow was bigger than I was, thought at 5'3 that's not really a huge feat.
While normal arrows were used, another thing I had never seen was the ornate arrowheads. They were stunning, and made me shudder at how much work had to have gone into creating one single piece due to the amount of metal that would have been sawed out.
This section finished up with familiar items like naginata (pole weapon), katana (sword), ujifusa(short sword), and aikuchi (dagger). The suit of armor at the end included a large matchlock gun.
Samurai and Horses on the Battlefield
This was the end of the exhibit, and my favorite part. The layout, while difficult to capture in photos, made it feel like you were watching these warriors ride past you. The figures displayed in full regalia, allowed the full magnificence of seeing all the various pieces throughout the exhibit combine into a final product. It felt like stepping back in time, inspiring both awe and wonder, cementing why history has been filled with so much fascination and reverence towards the Samurai. It wasn't just a photo, and for a few fleeting seconds, I felt like I was standing in a frozen moment of history.
Overall Experience
This was an amazing experience I was thrilled to have been able to see in person. I've never seen the variety of these items in person until this exhibit, and I learned a lot I didn't know about the Samurai. It was a wonderful experience and I'm very thankful to the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection for sharing these pieces, and for the VMFA for hosting it. It was a wonderful exhibit I hope many get to enjoy and learn from for a long time.
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