WASHINGTON — During the first three centuries of American history — from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the new world, through the years that revolutionaries struggled for independence for the fledgling United States — Spain was already one of the word's great empires.

Perhaps more than anything else, luxurious suits of armor were used to cultivate the image of Spanish royalty as all powerful. Kings and emperors commissioned portraits by masters — Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Diego Velazquez and others — depicting them wearing armor made of silver and gold, intricately decorated with symbols linking the Renaissance-era monarchs to antiquity.

The National Gallery of Art has opened an exclusive exhibition of Spain's royal armor, pairing some of the one-of-a-kind suits for the first time with portraits of the monarchs wearing the same armor. The large-scale show, "The Art of Power: Royal Armor and Portraits from Imperial Spain," is a first for the museum. It remains on view through Nov. 1.

"So it covers a very special period in your history, no?" noted curator Alvaro Soler del Campo, director of the Spanish Royal Armory, as he prepared to open the exhibit in Washington. While America's rough terrain was still being settled, "on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, they were playing with armor and paintings."

The exhibit includes several full suits of armor, helmets and shields, as well as armor built for horses. The pieces, worn by such figures as Emperor Charles V, Philip the Handsome and Philip II, were sometimes used in battle but mostly were created for parades and pageantry. The heaviest decorative suits — generally made up of plates covering the chest, mid-section, arms and legs — could weigh about 40 pounds, curators said.

It features the portraits with the armor for the first time since the paintings were created, as well as large tapestries that depict the armor in use during historic moments, such as Charles V reviewing his troops before going to battle against the Ottoman Turks to capture part of North Africa.

Earl A. Powell III, director of the National Gallery of Art, said the pieces reflect the historical realities of Spain and Europe during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

"What links the works of art are the messages they convey," he said. "'The Art of Power' explores the aesthetic and symbolic universe that made these objects a central vehicle for transmitting an ideology of power."

When the suits were created, the armor was more precious than any portrait or other symbol of status, curators said. The monarchs chose to be painted in armor that had special meaning from their historical battles or conquests.