Japan's samurai live again in Milan in Italy's first major show on the warrior class who dominated the country for centuries.
Until June 2 at Palazzo Reale, the legendary fighters come to new life through an array of swords, helmets, body armour and the distinctive trappings for man and horse designed to strike fear into the enemy.
The 100 or so pieces date from the Azuchi Momoyama (1575-1603) and Edo (1603-1867) periods, when the caste sat atop Japan's hierarchical society, second only to the divine emperor.
The samurai had the privilege of carrying two swords and the right of 'killing and walking away,' laid down by imperial writ.
After Zen Buddhism came to Japan in the Middle Ages, the samurai devoted themselves not only to military training but also to meditation techniques that allowed them to attain absolute self-control.
In the periods covered by the show there were long spells of peace in which the samurai armour was only used for ceremonial purposes.
But its worksmanship remained of the highest order, combining etched metal plates with bamboo padding, lacquered decorations and other leather paraphernalia.
Some of the armour ventured into outlandish territory such as one of the pieces on show, a general's helmet made out of an ox's skull complete with the original horns.
The helmet, called a 'kabuto', was of course the most important part of a samurai's arsenal of visual intimidation.
Most of the 100 items on show come from Milan's Koelliker collections, with some extra pieces from the Castello Sforzesco's Oriental Art galleries.
Additionally, the last section of the exhibition shows modern-day, futuristic projections of samurai forms in robots based on cartoon characters like Goldrake.
There are several collateral events including screenings of Japanese cinema featuring samurai, as well as 3-D Web views of all the exhibits at www.mostrasamurai.it.
