Here is a warrior you would not want to meet in battle. His chest, arms and head are protected by a suit of steel and brass armor, which would be enough to keep most of us at a safe distance. What's really intimidating about his martial wardrobe, though, is the presence of two eagle-feather-covered wings extending from the back of his armor and reaching high into the sky. As if that weren't sufficiently scary, a leopard skin is draped across his metal chest.

This "winged hussar armor," as it's known, was worn by the Polish cavalry riding into battle in the late 17th century. The wind rushing through their feathers is said to have made a whirring sound that spooked the enemy even more. It's no wonder Poland was a major military power during this period.

You'll surrender in a happier sense to the exhibit in which that winged warrior stands. "Land of the Winged Horsemen: Art in Poland, 1572-1764," which opened yesterday at the Walters Art Gallery, is a beautifully realized exhibit focusing on art that is little known outside of Poland.

Organized by the Alexandria, Va.-based Art Services International in cooperation with the Walters, this touring exhibit was culled from more than 30 public collections in Poland.

The genesis of this exhibit suggests how it's likely to fascinate American viewers whose daily thoughts have never included even a moment's contemplation of Baroque art in Poland.

Ellen Reeder, the Walters' curator of ancient art, was vacationing in Poland when she first encountered this art. Ancient Greece and Rome are her thing, not 17th- and 18th-century Poland, but she was hooked just the same. Reeder explains her interest by recalling a post-war childhood in which her school history textbooks had maps of Europe "with a dividing line down the middle, different colors for each western European country, but just a gray area for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe. It was treated as one monolith, and it didn't matter."

Her trip to Poland in 1992 opened her eyes to that country's rich multicultural history. "Poland hasn't had a chance to tell its story," she says, "because an accident of geography has often meant the Poles were caught in the middle of stronger powers [during much of modern history]. I think it's time to take Poland off the map of forgetting."

After she conceived the idea for the show, two guest curators were brought aboard: Jan K. Ostrowski, director of the Wawel Royal Castle in Cracow, and Andrzej Rottermund, director of the Royal Castle in Warsaw. They worked in consultation with guest director Count Andrew Ciechanowiecki, who is a Polish cultural ambassador at large.

So a curatorial team, including one Baltimorean and several Polish scholars, started work on an exhibit showcasing Poland during an era when, allied with Lithuania, it was the largest nation in Europe. It was the easternmost European power at the time, and hence a crucial Christian line of defense against the Muslim forces of the Ottoman empire. The most interesting aspect of the exhibit is how East met West in Poland.

"The Poles were defenders of the faith working to defeat the Turks, but culturally they were intrigued," Reeder says, and they adapted oriental motifs in their own decorative items and textiles. "Poland was coming alive during the Baroque period. There was a grandeur, pomp and self-confidence, and also an openness to other cultures."

Ostrowski concurs that the Baroque period was "the moment when Polish culture was most different from the average European patterns."

Rottermund adds: "Generally speaking, the Eastern influence was felt more in decorative arts than in painting."

Divided into four sections focusing on the monarchy, military, magnates (as the nobility are called here) and religion, the exhibit has a number of examples of artwork bearing signs of that Eastern influence. But there are even more pieces in which Polish nationalism and its distinctive symbols are on display.

In the show's introductory section, one of the proudest objects is a silver "Vessel in the Form of the Polish Eagle" (c. 1666). The eagle's right foot rests on an orb, scepter and sword; its left foot rests on a solidly rendered representation of rocks and grass. The eagle's wings are spread, and it's symbolically set to take flight.

One of Poland's most beloved leaders is depicted in the French artist Henri Gascar's painting "King John III Sobieski and His Family" (1691). Sobieski led the western alliance that defeated the Turks at the Battle of Vienna in 1683; the Turks fled the field so quickly that their armor, tents and supposedly their coffee, too, were gathered up by the victorious European forces. This painting is a portrait within a portrait, because the king's wife and children are shown holding up a portrait of him. That sort of theatrical display is typical of much Polish art of this period.

The next gallery is devoted to the military. That winged hussar is positioned next to a linen, satin and leather Turkish tent from the late 17th century. It's such a splendidly exotic sight you can readily understand why Christian Poles had no qualms holding garden parties under such tents.

The display of armor also highlights how the meeting of warring religions sometimes led to their artistic melding.

Staunchly Catholic in orientation is a mid-18th-century gilded copper pectoral plate whose front is painted with images of "Our Lady of Czestochowa," the Holy Trinity and the 12 apostles; its reverse is painted with an image of Christ bearing the Cross. But the same gallery also contains an 18th-century Polish horse saddle whose lightweight design and vegetal patterning reflect Turkish influences.

The exhibit's next section, on the nobility, is full of portraits, tapestries and furnishings reflecting the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Aristocrats loved such orientalized objects as silk sashes decorated with Persian floral patterns; a silver coffee service whose pots have sinuously curving forms that would be familiar to Turks; and a painting by German artist Johann Samuel Mock, "A Coffee Table Scene" (early 1730s), in which the then-new European custom of drinking coffee warrants having the drinkers garbed in Turkish costumes.

The exhibit's final section, on religion, has a glittering array of silver monstrances, chalices, candlesticks and crosses.

Of special note is a 17th-century oil painting that is a copy of the venerated "Our Lady of Czestochowa." The mother and child are surrounded by such an extensive "robe" of silver that their faces are the only exposed portion of the painting.

There also are objects associated with the Uniates, who obeyed the pope in Rome but followed the Orthodox liturgy; and a very small sampling of Judaic religious objects.

Unlike the rest of this impressively installed exhibit, the concluding gallery feels rather cramped. But there are worse fates than seeing powerful art at too-close quarters.

'Land of the Winged Horsemen'

Where: Walters Art Gallery, 600 N. Charles St.

When: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, until 8 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month; through May 9

Tickets: $10; $8 seniors, students and ages 18-25; $7.50 each for groups of 15 or more; $4 for children 6-17; free for children under 6 and museum members

Call: 410-752-1200 for tickets; 410-547-9000 for information Pub Date: 3/03/99