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Art and religion collide at the Kimbell

A A A Comments By Jesse Hughey Thursday, Nov 15 2007

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It's a tragic historical irony that the spiritual descendants of some of the world's greatest artists have devolved into so many dullards who'd rather boycott, ban or burn an objectionable artwork than try to understand it. How could this faith that inspired such beautiful creative expression in its early followers become an excuse for the closed-minded to ban creations they don't comprehend? It's incomprehensible that Michelangelo, sculptor of the Western art world's most famous naked man, and the yokels who censored a Pilot Point gallery's mural depicting Eve in her pre-Fall nudity are followers of the same faith. The newest Kimbell exhibit displays artworks from the days long before mainstream Christian leadership morphed into the morality militia. It includes artifacts from the Vatican, the British Museum and the Louvre, among other international institutions, to tell the story of Christianity's earliest surviving artworks. Many displayed pieces have never been lent before. Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art will be on view at the Kimbell Art Museum, 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd. in Fort Worth, Sunday through March 30, 2008. Exhibition admission is $14 for adults, $12 for seniors age 60 and over and students with ID, $10 for children between 6 and 11 and free for museum members and children under 6; admission is half-price from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays after 5 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays. Call 817-654-1034 or visit KimbellArt.org for more information.
Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: Nov. 18. Continues through March 30, 2007