Permanent display
Permanent collection · Dates unconfirmed
Defensive Display: Shields from The Met Collection
from 12 May 2025 at Metropolitan Museum of Art
· New York City
Defensive Display: Shields from The Met Collection brings together a selection of shields drawn from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's vast holdings. Spanning cultures and centuries, these objects reveal how the shield has served not only as a practical instrument of protection in battle, but also as a canvas for artistic achievement, symbolic communication, and cultural identity.
From intricately decorated ceremonial examples to battle-worn functional pieces, the works on view demonstrate the remarkable diversity of materials, techniques, and iconographies employed by craftspeople and warriors across the globe. The exhibition invites visitors to consider the shield as both artifact and artwork — an object at the intersection of conflict, craft, and meaning.
From intricately decorated ceremonial examples to battle-worn functional pieces, the works on view demonstrate the remarkable diversity of materials, techniques, and iconographies employed by craftspeople and warriors across the globe. The exhibition invites visitors to consider the shield as both artifact and artwork — an object at the intersection of conflict, craft, and meaning.
About the venue
Metropolitan Museum of Art
· New York City
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the fourth-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5,727,258 visitors in fiscal year 2025, it was the most-visited museum in…
