During its four-month run, The Last Knight exhibition drew visitors from all over the world to see 180 examples of medieval and Renaissance artwork, on loan from collections and galleries throughout North America, Europe, and the Middle East, to create a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Hard to believe that it was just three months ago, in October of 2019, that the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art opened a truly remarkable exhibition called The Last Knight – the Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximillian I. Hard to believe, because as we record this episode of our podcast, the exhibition is in its final week of opening to the public.

The exhibition has caused a lot of excitement in the world of medieval enthusiasts – and well beyond. At the opening of the gallery, host Scott Farrell talked with Dr. Tobias Capwell, curator of arms and armor at the Wallace Collection, as they had discovered that they were both planning trips to New York to see the exhibition, and realized that, by sheer misfortune, they were going to miss each other at the museum by literally just a few hours. But since the two weren’t going to have a chance to meet up at the gallery itself, they thought it would be fun to compare notes before, and after visiting the gallery in a two-part podcast episode that everyone could share – whether you’ve been to the Met during the run of this exhibition or not.

In our first episode, Dr. Capwell spoke about the biography and cultural importance of Emperor Maximillian in our perception of knightly culture, and the ideals of chivalry. Now, after both having had the privilege of enjoying the gallery in person, Dr. Capwell joins Scott again for a sort of post-game analysis on their respective visits to the museum, and the success of this gallery in expanding the understanding of chivalry, knighthood, and the armor makers’ art in the 15th and 16th century.

• Watch Dr. Capwell’s talk Building Medieval Plate Armor: An Operator’s Guide (given as part of a 2014 speaking tour in Southern California, arranged by Chivalry Today) on our YouTube page.