Don’t believe that Facebook is a complete waste of time. I often learn things there, and yesterday I found a request by a friend that read: “Does anyone know of a good guide to characters from the New Testament, one that would be helpful for heathens viewing Italian art?”
He is not alone, as The Art Newspaper said in December 2009. Writing about the new medieval and Renaissance galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Anna Somers Cocks noted that, judging by a survey the museum took of art college students (who had some pretty uninformed views all-around):
…the real wastelands of ignorance were revealed when it came to the stories, theology and liturgy of Christianity, and since 80% of these collections are religious in one way or another, the V&A realised that it had a challenge ahead if it wanted the art to be understood and appreciated.
So I was very curious when someone immediately replied on Facebook with this link, to a site called “Christian Iconography” created and maintained by Augusta State University in Augusta, Ga. I decided to try it out, and — after an initial glitch — was pleasantly surprised.
The glitch first: when you type in a term to search, say, Saint Sebastian, the results are a blue page with white boxes and unreadable yellow letters. Do not be deterred. Just mouse over the space that looks like a top line, above the yellow, and a headline appears in blue. “Saint Sebastian Iconography” was the first box — click and you get a wonderful summary with illustrations. Another box is labled “Holbein – The Martyrdom of St. Stephen,” but that’s a typo. The painting shows St. Sebastian, arrows and all. I tried again with St. Cecilia, getting a general page plus other, like the link to the St. Cecilia altarpiece in the Uffizi. “Lamb” brings you St. Agnes, St. John the Baptist, Lamb of God, and more.
It’s not perfect. I plugged in “saint with a book” and got several responses but none were St. Jerome. Nobody’s perfect, I guess. You can also browse a list of names, and at the bottom of the home page, links to other sites about Christian images. Who knew?
But back to the museum dilemma, because not everyone will go through the same trouble to learn as my Facebook friend.
For that, based in The Art Newspaper’s account, I commend the V&A. I haven’t been to London in a while, so I haven’t see their Medieval and Renaissance galleries. But Cocks describes the process and the results at the V&A, and says they are “in no way do these galleries dumb down.”
I’m going to believe her, until I hear evidence otherwise.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Augusta State University