Art Review: ‘Object of Devotion,’ an Exhibition of Alabaster Sculptures

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Ken Johnson

The head of St. John the Baptist on a plate (circa 1470-1500).

NEW YORK---A hotly debated issue among theologians in medieval Europe concerned what has since been called “the cult of images.” Proponents of images argued that they were educational and edifying. Iconoclasts feared that people would become enthralled by images and fall into the sin of idolatry. The debate about images was not just academic. It had profound, and sometimes violent and tragic, consequences in the real world, especially for art and artists. One sad chapter of that history is resonantly told by “Object of Devotion: Medieval English Alabaster Sculpture From the Victoria and Albert Museum,” a beautiful and fascinating exhibition at the Museum of Biblical Art. [link]

Museum of Biblical Art: “Object of Devotion: Medieval English Alabaster Sculpture From the Victoria and Albert Museum,” (Ends Junes 8, 2014); 1865 Broadway at 61st Street, New York, NY; (212) 408-1500; mobia.org