12 works of art that prove what a loss the closure of the museum of biblical art is

12 Works Of Art That Prove What A Loss The Closure Of TheMuseum Of Biblical Art Is

New York City's Museum of Biblical Art is closing its doors next month, just shy of its 20thanniversary.

The museum announced the closure in a press release on its website, stating that it was unable toraise funds for a new site when the American Bible Society, which has housed it since 1997,announced it was moving to Philadelphia. The museum is run independently of the Bible Society,though the organization has provided essential funding and housing over the years.

"I am deeply proud of what we have accomplished at MOBIA, and deeply sorry that we will not beable to present the many exciting exhibitions and projects we had planned for the coming years,"MOBIA Director Richard P. Townsend said in the release.

The museum has served as a non-collecting gallery space over the last decade and half, hostingbiblically-inspired exhibitions from other institutions for months at a time. With the museum'sclosure, New York loses a "valuable resource," as Dale T. Irvin, president of the New YorkTheological Seminary, told Religion News Service.

And in 2012, RNS's David Van Biema wrote:

MOBIA is unlike most big-city museums in its exclusive focus on Christian and Jewish religious art --but also its attention to that art's religiousness. The museum had no religious agenda per se -- whichis ironic since it started as part of the venerable American Bible Society.

Here are 12 works of art and gallery views that demonstrate why MOBIA's announcement is a majordisappointment for spiritual seekers, theologians and art aficionados alike:

Annunciation, detail

Attributed to Giovanni d'Ambrogio

The Annunciation, late 14th century

Marble, 144 × 44 × 30 cm (56¾ × 17¼ × 117/8 in.)

Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, inv. no. 2005/276

© Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore / Antonio Quattrone

Installation view of Sculpture in the Age of Donatello: Renaissance Masterpieces from FlorenceCathedral at the Museum of Biblical Art, 2015. The exhibition is organized by Opera di Santa Mariadel Fiore, Florence, and the Museum of Biblical Art, New York.

The Art of Dialectic

Luca della Robbia

The Art of Dialectic (Plato and Aristotle?), 1437-39

Marble, 83.5 × 69 × 13 cm (327/8 × 271/8 × 5 in.)




Processional Cross

Luca della Robbia and Antonio di Salvi Salvucci

Processional Cross: Christ Crucified, the Evangelists, Allegory of the Sun, 15th century (after 1460,before 1475)

Gilded here copper (repoussé and chased), gilded bronze, and enamel, 76 × 57 cm (total height withstaff: 160 cm) (30 × 22½ in.) (total height with staff: 63 in.)




Abraham and Isaac (the Sacrifice of Isaac)

Donatello and Rosso

Abraham and Isaac (the Sacrifice of Isaac), 1421

Marble, 188 × 56 × 45 cm (74 × 22 × 173/4 in.)

Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, inv. no 2005/366



St. John the Evangelist

Donatello

St. John the Evangelist, 1408-15

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UYjOr-HmL0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Marble, 212 × 91 × 62 cm (83½ × 35¾ × 24½ in.)

Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, inv. no 2005/113



Bronze Head

Donatello and workshop

Head, ca. 1439

Bronze with traces of gilding, 45 × 35 × 30 cm (17¾ × 13¾ × 11¾ in.)

Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, inv. no 2005/379a



Christ (Vir Dolorum or "Man of Sorrows")

Nanni di Banco or Donatello

Vir Dolorum (Man of Sorrows), ca. 1407-9

Marble, 48 × 66 × 12 cm (187/8 × 26 × 4¾ in.)

Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, inv. No 2005/280



Back to Eden

Installation view of Back to Eden: Contemporary Artists Wander the Garden at the Museum ofBiblical Art, 2014. Courtesy of the Museum of Biblical Art.

The Art of Devotion

Installation view of Louis C. Tiffany and the Art of Devotion at the Museum of Biblical Art, 2012-13.Courtesy of the Museum of Biblical Art.

The Art of Devotion

Installation view of Louis C. Tiffany and the Art of Devotion at the Museum of Biblical Art, 2012-13.Courtesy of the Museum of Biblical Art.

Object of Devotion

Installation view of Object of Devotion: Medieval English Alabaster Sculpture from the Victoria andAlbert Museum at the Museum of Biblical Art, 2014. Courtesy of the Museum of Biblical Art.

Object of Devotion

Installation view of Object of Devotion: Medieval English Alabaster Sculpture from the Victoria andAlbert Museum at the Museum of Biblical Art, 2014. Courtesy of the Museum of Biblical Art.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/05/museum-of-biblical-art-closure_n_7207842.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/05/museum-of-biblical-art-closure_n_7207842.html

12 works of art that prove what a loss the closure of the museum of biblical art is

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