Franciscan Treasures Showcased at the Metropolitan Museum New York

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has organized a landmark exhibition Jerusalem 1000–1400: Every People Under Heaven which will demonstrate the key role that the Holy City, sacred to the three Abrahamic faiths, played in shaping the art of a period during which Jerusalem was home to more cultures, religions, and languages than ever before. In times of peace as well as war, Jerusalem remained a constant source of inspiration that resulted in art of great beauty and fascinating complexity. Jerusalem 1000–1400: Every People Under Heaven (September 26 to January 8, 2017) is the first exhibition to unravel the various cultural traditions and aesthetic strands that enriched and enlivened the medieval city. The exhibition will feature some 200 works of art from 60 lenders worldwide, including four dozen key loans from Jerusalem’s diverse religious communities, some of which have never before given these pieces on loan. Among the highlights of the exhibition are five sculpted capitals from the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth belonging to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. These pristinely preserved works, unearthed at the beginning of the 20th century, powerfully demonstrate the skill and imagination of the sculptors and the dramatic relationship between faith and art during the brief but exceptionally fertile Crusader period. This is the first time the ensemble has left Nazareth. More info: www.metmuseum.org [gallery link="file" ids="11315,11316,11321,11322,11323,11317,11318,11319,11320"]