made circa 1560 -- Musée de l'Armée, Paris

There was nothing particularly beautiful about the black body armor and helmet I wore when I embedded with the military “downrange,”  though I did find a  sober beauty in the mottled light of a cammie net and the dusty browns of battle rattle.  Still, even our military’s dress uniforms get nowhere near the splendor of yore — a WSJ review of a show in Paris’s Musée de l’Armée makes me want to hop a plane to see shields and helmets so splendid they could have defeated enemies with sheer awe, forget the shock. Of course, they weren’t the only ones — anyone see the show of Samurai weaponry and armor at the Metropolitan Museum last year?

Eboshi-Shaped Kabuto (Helmet) with Maedate (Crest) in the Form of a Mantis Edo period, 17th century Iron, lacquer, cord, silk, wood, gold, and papier-mâché; H. of bowl: 8 in. (20.3 cm) - Art of the Samurai at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ever sat in the Chinese courtyard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art?  Such a restful place and as evocative as any work in the galleries of Chinese aesthetic values.  Now it looks like we’ll be getting the chance to wander into another courtyard, this one in Moroccan style, as rich in patterning as the Ming Chinese courtyard is spare.  Can’t wait!