Art
Divination, Geomancy, and the Supernatural in Islamic Art
Over 100 rare objects from the 12th to 20th centuries are used to explore the role of the supernatural in Islamic art at the Ashmoleon Museum in Oxford.
Religion
Art
The Gift of Simplicity in America's Love Affair with the Shakers
The Metropolitan Museum of Art examines the emergence of 19th-century Shaker minimalism, and its influence on American Modernism.
Art
The First Known Depiction of a Witch on a Broomstick
In the 15th century, the image of the witch flying on a broomstick first appeared, its meaning laden with sexual and spiritual depravity.
Books
The Mystery of the Three Hares Motif
An enigmatic trio of rabbits running in a circle appears on centuries of art, from medieval churches in England to Buddhist caves in China.
Art
How Anamorphic Paintings Represented the Miracles of the Saints
Which saint you see in this 17th-century painting depends on where you stand.
Art
A Black American Artist Explores Her Refusal of Christianity
“Direct Downward Cut at the Head; Overhand Knife Thrust”; “and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped”; “To them God has appeared as a Negro”; "syntactical slips and breaks" — these are a sample of the bits of text affixed to the walls in Kameelah Janan Rasheed’s On Refusal.
Art
Sacred Bones and the Catacomb Saint of Manhattan
Catholic churches in Europe host as many bones as a graveyard, with bits of saints and intact incorrupt bodies encased in glass and displayed on ornate altars.
Art
Rubin Museum Opens Expanded Buddhist Shrine Room
Flickering light and faint sounds of chanting accompany the Rubin Museum of Art's expanded Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, where visitors to the Chelsea museum can pause in a space of contemplation.
Art
Praising the Scientific Contributions of Clergy Naturalists
Among the 18 million specimens in the oldest natural history museum in the United States are contributions from missionaries and ministers who practiced science alongside their faith.
Art
Two Exhibitions Showcase the Bloody Relics of Hermann Nitsch’s Rituals
Viewers may have seen similar Nitsch installations before, but it is important to re-experience his work, much of which has been long misunderstood by an art world dominated by political theory and formalism.
News
Oldest Fragment of Koran Found in UK Library
A 1,370-year-old section of the Koran possibly dating back to the life of Mohammed has been discovered in central England.
Art
An Altarpiece in Guatemala Gets a New Life
ANTIGUA, Guatemala — The Cathedral of San Francisco in the colonial town of Antigua, Guatemala, was first built by the Spanish in the 16th century, but it’s as alive today as a center of worship as it ever was.