Introducing European Arms and Armour

Glasgow’s Burrell Collection has an important holding of European arms and armour, including many pieces of exceptional quality. The medieval and Renaissance era is particularly well represented. Sir William Burrell collected weapons and armour associated with knights, kings and emperors, as well as with the common fighting man and the fearsome Scottish Highland warrior; he acquired armours made for both the brutal battlefield and for the chivalric splendour of the tournament.

More than 50 highlights of the collection are presented in this accessible publication, which explores the use, making and symbolic meanings of the objects – and how their collector’s passion for the past has secured them for us today. Contextual images of other parts of the Burrell Collection, such as stained glass and tapestries, further add to our understanding of arms and armour, as do fascinating illustrations from contemporary sources.

Dr Ralph Moffat is Curator of European Arms and Armour at Glasgow Life Museums. His particular research interests include the armour and weapons of the medieval era and Scottish weapons of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

• Publisher: Glasgow Museums Publishing