Museum unveils exhibit's strong suit

At 4:35 yesterday afternoon, after several big shots at the Philadelphia Museum of Art made welcoming remarks and lots of TV camera crews and guests crowded round, 30 fourth graders from the Russell Byers Charter School finally got to see what they had been waiting for.

There was a fanfare. The children counted down - "Three! Two! One!" - and a great gray cloth fell away, revealing a monumental 500-year-old complete suit of steel horse armor, the museum's latest acquisition.

Atop the armored horse (even its ears were sheathed for battle), at the center of the newly reconfigured Kretzschmar von Kienbusch Galleries of Arms and Armor, sat a complementary suit of steel man armor.

"I read about it and I was really excited," said Rebecca Greenberg, 9, as she gazed up at the 90-pound horse armor - etched with dragons and chic Renaissance damsels - and its magisterial, metallic rider.

Rebecca was impressed.

"It's hard to believe they could fashion it so long ago with the technology they had then," she said, adding thoughtfully, "They might have had a hard time hearing with the tight metal helmet."

It's that kind of remark that Nicholas and Athena Karabots of Fort Washington would appreciate. They funded the acquisition - the only complete suit of horse armor to enter the market in half a century - in the hope that it would inspire children.

"For you kids sitting down there," Nicholas Karabots said just before the unveiling, "that's what this is all about."

The armor, acquired for an undisclosed price, was completed in 1507 for Ulrich of Wurttemberg, a German duke and supporter of Maximilian I of Austria, Holy Roman emperor.

"I think armor is cool because you can use it for a lot of things," said Rebecca's classmate Jamal Avery, 9. "You can protect yourself. It's heavy."

"It looks cool, even though it's 500 years old," said Jonah Banks, 10. "It's really rare."

"Yes," said Rebecca, who clearly had done some homework. "There are only 50 in the world, and only 12 complete sets."

.