Memorable masked Spanish men

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Suits of armor were once so finely wrought that an attacking lance would glance off their smooth metal harmlessly. But then, as the Middle Ages moved into the Renaissance, European kings demanded that the craftsmen finish the armor with elaborate decoration. All the engraving and embossing upset the surface of the armor. A lance would no longer slip away. But that did not matter.

Decorated armor was for show, so that the kings would look majestic and powerful and indestructible, especially in portraits by great painters.

One of the grandest collections of decorated armor belongs to the Royal Armory of Spain. The National Gallery of Art has now brought some of the finest samples of this Spanish armor and placed them alongside portraits of armor-bearing kings and noblemen by such painters as Diego Velázquez, Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck. Both National Gallery and Spanish Armory officials say this has never been done before.

The exhibition, “The Art of Power: Royal Armor and Portraits From Imperial Spain,” which closes Nov. 1, is part of an extraordinary Spanish summer at the National Gallery. A second but far different exhibition, “Luis Meléndez: Master of the Spanish Still Life,” closes in late August and goes on to Los Angeles. There is an ironic link between the shows, for Meléndez tried for many years during the 18th century to become a court painter of kings but failed despite enormous talent.

For more on this glittery Spanish art, read Stanley Meisler’s report in Sunday’s Arts & Books.