cClung Museum Exhibit

Sacred Beauty: A Millennium of Religious Art, A.D. 600 – 1600
September 8, 2007 – January 6, 2008
Frank H. McClung Museum

FIGURE OF KASHYAPA
China, Liao dynasty, 916-1125 CE
Height 13 in. (33 cm); Width 27 ½ in. 69.9 cm)
Private Collection

An unprecedented exhibition of religious artifacts at the McClung Museum will mark the opening of Medieval and Renaissance semester to the general public: Sacred Beauty: A Millennium of Religious Art, A.D. 600-1600. Curated by Dr. Jeff Chapman, Director of the McClung Museum, and Professor Amy Neff of the School of Art, this exhibit will display religious art and artifacts from each of the five major world religions -- Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism – as they were practiced in cultures linked by trade, travel and pilgrimage. Academic advisors to the exhibition are James Fitzgerald (Hinduism), Rosalind Gwynne (Islam), Miriam Levering (Buddhism), Amy Neff (Christianity) and Gilya Schmidt (Judaism). The principal sponsors of the exhibition are the Lucille S. Thompson Family Foundation and the Aletha and Clayton Brodine Museum Fund.

Dr. Chapman states that the goal of the exhibit is to “show how artists of varying beliefs and cultural traditions envisioned and experienced the sacred.” Iconic and sacred artifacts will be displayed in an inter-cultural context, demonstrating how these objects functioned in and with religious practice, and how they relate to the basic tenets of each faith. In this way visitors to the exhibit can gain a greater understanding of these religious systems both independently and as part of a common human experience.

The McClung Museum operates a strong educational program, inviting school children from 19 counties to take field trips to the museum for docent-led tours; Sacred Beauty will be a major focus for such visits in the Fall 2007 semester.