Featured Portfolios

These portfolios have been created by members of the University of Notre Dame community and nominated by members of the Hesburgh Libraries and the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art to be featured for inspiration and scholarly exploration.

Learn more about creating portfolios

Prints and Posters

At Hesburgh Libraries and the Snite Museum of Art, our holdings include a vast number of prints and posters, dating from the 18th century to the mid-20th century. Prints are impressions made by any method involving transfer from one surface to another, and posters are ephemera intended to be shared in publicly visible spaces.

This grouping of items represents a small percentage of our digitized holdings. Explore all of the prints and posters.

Peru's Print Revolution

The images in this portfolio were digitized thanks to funding awarded by the Latin Americanist Research Resources Project (LARRP).

They include a corpus of rare nineteenth-century Peruvian serials, ephemeral circulars, and popular song and verse imprints held in the José Durand Peruvian History Collection at the University of Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Libraries. These unique materials support new scholarship on diverse political and cultural topics in Peruvian history. They also offer new insights on the worldwide nineteenth-century revolution in print culture, providing fodder for comparative work by scholars across disciplines. The materials included in this first corpus date to the first half of the nineteenth century.

Walk the Walk Week 2023

This year marks the eighth annual campus-wide observance of Walk the Walk Week, a week-long series of University, department, and student-sponsored events designed to help us consider how we—both individually and collectively—can take an active role in making Notre Dame more welcoming and inclusive.

In honor of MLK Day, explore photographs of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement from the Museum’s permanent collection.

Mesoamerican Art Gallery: Figurine Case Left

The figurines in this portfolio match the figurines in the case starting with the top row and going left to right, row by row.

Peopling the Americas

Until recently, it was taught that Christopher Columbus “discovered” the Americas. In these discovery stories, the land was a sparsely populated area, full of opportunity and waiting to be claimed. In reality, Mesoamerica and the Caribbean had been densely settled for over 3,000 years. Many people have heard of the Maya and Aztec, but not many have heard of the other cultural groups that thrived throughout the region. These figurines represent the diversity of peoples who lived robust lives on this land. They raised families, farmed, worshipped gods, recorded historic events, and traded goods. As you explore this gallery, think about these people and their lives--lives that were just as rich and nuanced as our own. The objects you see here might seem static, but centuries ago they were regularly used by these people. These objects, with their dynamic and rich life histories, allow us to celebrate the cultures and people who made and used them.

As stated in the Marble Policy Disclaimer, we are continually researching our various collections, and improving their respective records. This ongoing work is important to us and we are actively updating research on the artworks you see here. We very much welcome your feedback and any questions or concerns you may want to share, please email your comments to: RMMACollections@nd.edu.

Indigenous Art of the Americas – North America

Modern and Intersectional

Indigenous peoples have been producing artwork throughout the Americas for thousands of years. Each artwork is a unique blend of influences from different artists and cultures. Artists come together and establish regional styles, which then continue to change over time. The resulting dynamic works are stories, ideas, and relationships made physical through the skill of the artists. This gallery is a celebration of these artists and their stories, honoring them as the inherently modern and intersectional figures they are. Too often, Indigenous artists' voices remain unheard, their stories told by others. In this space, you will find interviews and quotes so that you may hear from them directly.

Throughout the gallery, groupings of artworks are centered on a contemporary artist working within a particular medium. Diverse examples of artwork in the same medium demonstrate how artists draw on these customary styles while simultaneously putting the styles into conversations with their other passions-whether haute couture or science fiction. Such artists demonstrate that, despite concerted efforts to eradicate Indigenous languages, art forms, and world views, their practices and beliefs are alive and well today due to the dedication and perseverance of Indigenous communities.

Indigenous art is an act of perseverance.

Indigenous art is intersectional.

Indigenous art is modern.

Indigenous art is.

Indigenous Art of the Americas – Central and South America

European and American Art 1700-1900 – What does it mean to be modern?

What does it mean to be modern?

The origins of modernity in Europe and America may be located in the changing attitudes toward the past, the understanding of nature and the relationship between the two.

Ancient philosophers and writers had long been revered in Europe. Their theories and stories, their ways of thinking and their worldviews had been a source of inspiration and a social and moral guide for generations. Early Church fathers relied heavily on Greek and Roman texts as they gained new adherents to the faith. Christianity was seen as the perfection of classical thought, not its antithesis.

From the seventeenth to eighteenth century, however, something changed. Proponents of rational thinking sought an equivalency between ideas based on the empirical evidence found in nature and the existing authority of theology based on dogma or faith. Disciplines such as history, politics, rhetoric and art--detached from their religious framework--underwent rigorous analysis similar to the study of physics and mathematics. Thought leaders scrutinized Christianity and its artifacts with the same critical eye they cast on the newly discovered archaeological remains of Herculaneum and Pompeii.

The art on view in these galleries reflects this tension between an admiration for the classical past and a simultaneous desire to break away from it. The emotional exuberance of religious art, the lure of landscapes in Rome, tempered by a call to reexamine nature and revisit history, culminated in the social and political upheavals of the long nineteenth century (1789-1914), a time of great change--and a premonition of Modernism.

International Modern and Contemporary Art – Battle at Mid-century

The twentieth century is often referred to as “the American century” for the political, commercial, and social vitality of the United States. From the 1950s and 1960s forward, New York was the epicenter of the Avant-Garde for culture.

Artists descended on the city from across the country and around the world, and abstraction, particularly Abstract Expressionism, held sway for decades. The rigors of a multitude of geometric abstractions served as an intellectual counterpoint. Combined, they challenged the long-held supremacy of the representational tradition. Painters and sculptors interested in the natural world, specifically the human figure, sought new approaches, from heightened realism to bold compositions to new expressive visual languages, establishing both battles and bridges between abstraction and figuration. Collectively, the art world was forever changed.

A succession of art movements and bold trends were communicated through the media and the New York gallery scene. At mid-century, the concept of an “art world” materialized. This collective of artists, critics, cultural leaders, connoisseurs, museums, and galleries created one of the most powerful entities of the modern world—one defining how we see, understand, preserve, and promote our creativity and humanity.

International Modern and Contemporary Art – Sculpture Court

Sculpture Court

Interest in and commitment to sculpture at Notre Dame began when Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C., invited internationally renowned sculptor Ivan Meštrović to campus in 1955. Hesburgh was encouraged in this endeavor by Rev. Anthony J. Lauck, C.S.C., then director of the Museum, chair of the art department, and himself an accomplished sculptor.

At times physically and conceptually challenging in ways that painting and works on paper are not, appreciating the scale, volume, and sheer three-dimensionality of sculpture can be daunting. Regardless, the Museum has welcomed transformational gifts by George Rickey, Kenneth Snelson, and George Segal, and has pursued major works by Richard Hunt, Louise Nevelson, and Beverly Pepper, among others. On such foundations, sculpture is a major focus for the Museum.

In addition to the works on display here, the Museum is fortunate to be situated in the Charles B. Hayes Family Sculpture Park, offering infinite opportunities to explore sculpture in the open air. Further, the study of sculpture in the University’s art department under the guidance of Rev. Austin Collins, C.S.C., has long been a strength and resource for the appreciation of Modern and Contemporary sculpture.

International Modern and Contemporary Art – Global Conversations

Global Conversations

By the closing decades of the twentieth century, the global nature of the art world was rapidly taking shape. New York as singular and central to the art world began to share the stage with vibrant cultural centers across the United States, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Africa. Parallel, and perhaps more significant, the visions and voices of a great multitude of artists from across the globe came into focus. Today, no singular style holds sway: figuration, expressionism, appropriation, abstraction, deeply personal commentary, and cool remove exist in nearly equal measure. Cultural hierarchy based on artistic origin or style has been flattened.

Although degrees of diversity have long existed in the art world, recent decades have welcomed more artists of differing backgrounds, beliefs, identities, and orientations to share their visions of and concerns for the world. Although Caucasian men have long held forth in roles of authority as artists and cultural leaders, the table is now increasingly and healthily populated by women, artists of color, and makers from every corner of the world and of every personal persuasion.

In the most noble sense, diversity is global not just in the artists represented and the ideas shared, but extends to a broader audience and offers a safer environment in which to engage, be challenged, find understanding, and hopefully, experience enlightenment if not joy. Beyond the boundaries of this gallery, visitors will find the global conversation continues in several areas of our collection, including in African Art, the Indigenous Art of the Americas, as well as in the Mary, Queen of Families chapel and the Sculpture Park.

Indigenous Art of the Americas – Mesoamerica

People and Place

Mesoamerica is a cultural area that encompasses the land we know today as Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. The people who lived in Mesoamerica built complex cities, some with populations of over 100,000 people. They created art and traveled widely, exchanging goods and ideas. There were many unique cultural groups throughout Mesoamerica, and many different cultures thrived and waned over thousands of years, with new cultures emerging in a relatively small geographic zone.

In the academic disciplines of ancient Mesoamerican art and archaeology, there are three overarching time periods. The Formative period, also referred to as the Preclassic period, spans from roughly 1800 BCE–200 CE. The Classic period stretches from 200–900 CE, and the Postclassic period extends from 900–1521 CE, the year the Aztec empire fell.

This gallery is organized both chronologically and thematically. Around the perimeter wall, you will learn about a number of different cultures from throughout Mesoamerican history, starting with the Olmec and ending with the Aztec and Veracruz. In the center, you may explore essential themes shared by numerous Mesoamerican cultures, such as writing, the ballgame, and the feathered serpent.

When thinking of ancient Mesoamerica, it is important to consider the diversity of peoples who lived in this geographic region and the longevity of their cultures. These cultural groups continue to play a crucial role today, as they shape the identities, artwork, and beliefs of their descendants and many other people—throughout the Americas and around the world.

International Modern and Contemporary Art – New Forces: New Forms

New Forces: New Forms

Since the dawn of the twentieth century, the visual arts have experienced continual, dynamic change. The art world, as we have come to know it, has witnessed greater change in recent generations than in the centuries that preceded it. Old systems of art patronage through the state, church and aristocracy vanished, and the iron-grip of art academies and official taste measurably weakened--in many instances it completely dissolved.

Primary was a shift towards more conceptual artistic practices. Ideas resulting from fresh ways of seeing matched new channels of expression. Investigation of forms beyond strict recreations of the natural world offered creative vitality, and a willingness to experiment with materials, both time-honored and brand new, contributed further fuel. Significantly, all unfolded within the complex fabric of great political and social challenges, dynamic discoveries full of promise in science and industry, and tragic blows to our collective humanity through war and oppression.

The Modern period opened with Paris as central to cultural life, and artists from across Europe and America flocked to the “City of Light” which, in turn, illuminated the creative paths of many. By mid-century, successive wars and a dynamic industrial and commercial base shifted attention to the United States, New York in particular. The freedoms of America at large reigned supreme and brought artistic émigrés from all over the world. Now in the twenty-first century, vibrant cultural centerpieces hold sway across the globe, from Berlin to Beijing, London to Los Angeles, Abu Dhabi to Buenos Aires.

International Modern and Contemporary Art – New Languages for a New Century

New Languages for a New Century

The twentieth century arrived and advanced amid massive political, social, economic, and technological change, a collision that profoundly affected the visual arts. The traditional European model of art patronage had collapsed, the boundaries between high and low art disintegrated, and a myriad of highly creative conceptual languages for art emerged. Conceived in Europe, and frequently nourished in Paris, these visual languages can be broadly understood under the banners of Expressionism, Surrealism, and Formalism, of which Cubism was a major force.

Through subject matter, color, the application of paint, and new uses of form and materials, Expressionism allowed the artist to speak boldly of themselves and to broad audiences--especially in France and Germany. Surrealism drew from the vast individual domains of the psyche, dreams, and fantasy; it often found inspiration in the unorthodox, those not formally trained, and even the creative energy and innocence of childhood. For its structures, Formalism promoted an analytical approach to the diverse borders of abstraction and climaxed with geometric, frequently constructivist, explorations of objects in two- and three-dimensional space.

For each of the aforementioned visual languages, there is a shared past and future. All were born in the fertile grounds prepared by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. In turn, Expressionism, Surrealism, and Formalism are cornerstones of the history of art from the early twentieth century to the global present day.

Cultures Collide

As the Spanish colonized the Americas and forcibly converted Indigenous people to Christianity, they recognized and leveraged certain similarities in Indigenous religious visual expression--such as the important custom of depicting key deities in stone--in order to create points of entry into Christianity. At the same time, Mesoamerican and Andean communities selectively adapted Christian doctrine in their iconography, at times emulating European aesthetic values but retaining many of their own key beliefs and practices. As a result, the Indigenous traditional sacred landscape was transformed, but never fully eradicated.

This gallery invites us to reflect more broadly on the impact of cultures colliding and the subtleties of coercion and resistance often found in visual languages. The cross in the center was produced in Mexico in the sixteenth century when different belief systems were forced to interact for the first time. To either side are examples of stone reliefs--one an Aztec stone carving, the other a European religious panel--alluding to the uneasy coexistence of their respective traditions.

Although this room reflects interactions between Mesoamerican artists and European artists, many of the European powers engaged in colonization, and the ramifications of such exploitative processes can still be felt in many places around the world.

Charles B. Hayes Family Sculpture Park

Balcony

Grand Atrium

African Art – Dimensions of Power

Dimensions of Power

These galleries celebrate over 4,000 years of continuous artistic production on the African continent, with artworks from as far back as 2000 BCE to as recently as 2020 CE. As this artwork is produced by a wide array of cultures, spread across the second- largest continent and spanning thousands of years of history, it is important to understand that artwork is produced for a variety of reasons.

In the past, African artists rarely produced work simply for aesthetic purposes. Instead, artists tried to please their patrons and customers who sought to buy objects with a purpose beyond the decorative. Through art, kings and rulers projected their authority, religious groups promoted their faith, and the wealthy displayed their riches. Artwork was used to elevate a person’s social and cultural capital within their community.

Ordinary Africans were also interested in obtaining art objects to wield their own forms of power. Families and individuals sought out objects that could counteract witchcraft, misfortune, and evil, or help bring success in areas such as business, war, and hunting. Since supernatural forces were thought to play a large role in determining events, it was important to own objects that could shape the events that lay beyond ordinary human control.

Today, many contemporary artists intentionally use artwork to subvert or question current understandings of the world. From identifying the continuing impacts of colonialism on African nations to advocating for environmental reform, these artists use their artwork to call for a more just and sustainable future.

NAGPRA

Please note that we have included images of these works to help Indigenous Nations to more easily identify works in our collection as we engage in the NAGPRA process. If there are any images that should not be included on this public platform, please let us know and we can remove the images promptly. We will replace all images asked to be removed with a notice stating: “Image Not Included Due to Cultural Sensitivity Please Contact Us”.

Mesoamerican Art Gallery: Figurine Case Right

The figurines in this portfolio match the figurines in the case starting with the top row and going left to right, row by row.

Peopling the Americas

Through the Lens of Father Francis Browne, S.J.: Photographic Adventures of an Irish Priest

Father Francis Browne—known to family and friends as Frank—lived a life of devotion and religious service. In his own time, he pursued photography as an avocation. His large and diverse oeuvre distinguishes him as a leading twentieth century Irish photographer. The youngest of eight children, Francis Mary Hegarty Browne (1880–1960) was born in Cork, where his father was a flour merchant. His mother, the niece of William Hegarty, Lord Mayor of Cork, died when he was an infant, and he was nurtured by his educated and devout family. When his father died accidentally in 1898, the teenager became a ward of his uncle, Father Robert Browne (1844–1935), the President of Saint Patrick's College Maynooth, who would become Bishop of Cloyne in 1894. He guided his young nephew’s education and religious life and sometimes indulged him. The Bishop financed Frank’s graduation trip to Europe in 1897 and gave him a camera to document the journey.

After his return, Browne joined the Society of Jesus and entered the novitiate at Saint Stanislaus College in Tullabeg, County Offaly. When he was a student at the Royal University in Dublin, he was a friend of James Joyce. After completing his bachelor’s degree in 1902, Browne progressed to the Philosophate course of Jesuit study at Chieri, near Turin. In Italy, he found opportunities to travel further and visit churches and art galleries. For his Regency, Browne taught boys in middle school at Belvedere College in Dublin. He ran the academy cycling club and founded a camera club. After three years, he moved across the city for Theology at Milltown Park, Ranelagh. Airplanes, trains, and steamships fascinated the young man. In April 1912, Bishop Browne arranged a first-class ticket for him on the first leg of the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic. Frank sailed from Southampton in England to Cherbourg, France, and then to Queensland (Cobh) in Ireland. He disembarked at home before the liner sailed to its disastrous sinking in the North Atlantic. After the tragedy, some of Browne’s photographs of the ship, her passengers, and crew appeared in newspapers worldwide, launching his career as a photographer.

In July 1915, Browne was ordained to the priesthood and became a chaplain in the Irish Guards. He was allowed to carry his camera throughout World War I while serving in France and Flanders. Often on the front lines, Father Browne ministered to the wounded and the dead and became known for his bravery. When he returned to Ireland after the war, Father Browne had yet to complete his Jesuit training. Browne returned to Tullabeg for his postponed third year—Tertianship—and took his final vows as a Jesuit on February 2, 1921. Some months later, he became Superior of Saint Francis Xavier’s Church on Gardiner Street in Dublin. In this position, he managed the Jesuits of the parish and served as building superintendent. But soon, he suffered respiratory illness caused by breathing gas on the battlefield. The Irish Provincialate sent Browne to Australia to work, and to recuperate in a warm, dry climate. He photographed his journey to the other side of the world and back.

Father Browne returned to Saint Francis Xavier late in 1925. Now robust, he devoted more time to photography. He explored Dublin with his camera and made photographic expeditions around Ireland by train and bicycle. A member of the Photography Society of Ireland and the Dublin Camera Club, he contributed to their exhibitions. In 1928, Father Browne joined the Mission and Retreat Staff, first at Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare and then at Emo Court in County Laois. He traveled to parishes across Ireland to preach and to lead closed retreats, his camera always close at hand. On a visit to the Kodak Works at Harrow in 1933, he befriended its director, George Davison. This veteran aesthetic photographer arranged for Father Browne to receive free Kodak film for his use for his lifetime. In return, his images often appeared in The Kodak Magazine. He continued to photograph until his health declined in 1957. This selection of photographs represents some of Father Browne’s early adventures, as well as the joys and reflections of maturity. It reveals not only his perceptive, complex personality but also his passion for the people and traditions of Ireland.

The photographs in this exhibition were printed expressly for the University of Notre Dame and are part of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art permanent collection. Father Browne was a Jesuit priest who made photographs chiefly for his own interest. Not to be sold, they were seldom printed. He did undertake a handful of commissioned projects and some of his images appeared in newspapers and magazines. The earnings from these projects were sent to the Jesuits’ Provincial Treasurer, eventually comprising a fund to assist Jesuit students, which the photographer called the “Brownie Burses.”

Though Father Browne printed few photographs, he maintained a darkroom to develop his negatives, which he carefully preserved. Twenty-five years after his death, a trunk was discovered at the Jesuit Provincial Archives in Dublin containing some 42,000 of them. Organized in small albums, most of the negatives were on a nitrate film base, outmoded and dangerously flammable. The Provincial office consulted the Dublin architectural photographer and photographic conservator David Davison. He and his son Edwin transferred the negatives to stable cellulose acetate film stock and organized the images in a digital catalogue. The prints in this exhibition were made by Edwin Davison. They comprise the most extensive collection in the United States of the work of Father Browne.

This Exhibition is made possible by:

Lilly Endowment Inc.

With additional support from:

Milly and Fritz Kaeser Endowment for Photography

James and Barbara O’Connell Family Fund for Exhibitions

The Friends of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, Charter Memebership

Highlight Events:

“Rediscovering Father Browne” Lecture by Edwin Davison, September 25, 5:30 p.m.

“Sainted Painters and Painting Saints: Art Making as a Religious Vocation” Lecture by Professor Robin Jensen, October 9, 5:30 p.m.

Vocation to Create: A Conversation with artists Fr. Austin Collins, C.S.C., and Fr. Martin Nguyen, C.S.C., November 13, 5:30 p.m.

European and American Art 1700-1900 – Revisiting History, Rediscovering Nature

Revisiting History, Rediscovering Nature

The “old order” [ancien régime in France] that had ruled Europe and its colonies gave way to the new philosophies represented by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Edmund Burke, and Denis Diderot, culminating in ruptures marked by the American War of Independence in 1776 and the French Revolution in 1789.

The shift from agricultural to industrial economies, the emergence of representative democracies that transformed subjects into citizens, the rise of a powerful middle class, and the debut of the United States on the world stage in the 1800s had a noticeable impact on the art market.

Interest in exploring and studying the past extended beyond classical antiquity and focused on themes and events that emphasized national histories. Landscape artists focused on local views rather than idealized scenes. A growing fascination with classifying information about nature and humankind’s place in it led to new disciplines, such as psychology and ethnography.

In this gallery, you will see what French writer Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) called the “heroism of modern life.” He pointed out that audiences need not look to the past to find grace and beauty. It was right there among them--on the streets, in the factories and fields, in churches, and in the salons and boudoirs of their houses.

What does it mean to be modern?

The ruptures marked by the American War of Independence in 1776 and the French Revolution in 1789 sent shockwaves through Europe that reverberated throughout the long nineteenth century (1789-1914). The shift from agricultural to industrial economies, the emergence of representative democracies that transformed subjects into citizens, the rise of an increasingly powerful middle class, and the debut of the United States on the world stage in the 1800s had a noticeable impact on the art market. What was deemed worthy of depicting in art, how it was used, and by whom, all expanded.

Interest in exploring and studying the past extended beyond classical antiquity and focused on themes and events that emphasized national histories. Landscape artists focused on local views rather than idealized or imaginary scenes inspired by the Roman countryside. A growing fascination with gathering and classifying information about nature and humankind’s place in it led to new disciplines, such as psychology and ethnography.

European and American Art 1700-1900 – The Changing Nature of Nature

The Changing Nature of Nature

It’s hard to imagine people in the mid-eighteenth century wrestling with some of the same issues we struggle with today--the alienation and trials inherent in urban living, negotiations around acceptable behavior in public and private spheres, our continual yearning for recognition of lived experiences, how we cherish and revere our own family while remaining blind to the plight of others.

In this gallery, we come face to face with the notion that intimate relationships of trust and tenderness could be the foundation for the renewal of society. We experience the “beautiful,” as suggested by Edmund Burke, an Irish philosopher and prolific writer, by looking at cherished people who have inspired love.

At the time of these works, factories and shops in England and France employed hundreds of thousands of children. Emerging sympathy for children of the working classes resulted in some of the first child labor laws [1803 in England; 1841 in France] setting the minimum age for employment at eight years old. In 1762, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Swiss philosopher, published Emile, or On Education, a treatise on education and the place of the individual in society. Rousseau’s writings, with topics ranging from the benefits of play and happiness in child rearing and the bliss of naturschwärmerei--an enchantment with nature--inspired change across Europe in the second half of the century.

“I feel an indescribable ecstasy…,” he wrote, “in identifying myself with the whole of nature.”

Art of the Spanish Americas

Evangelization

In the fifteenth century, the Doctrine of Discovery [a series of papal decrees] established European colonies in what were considered ‘discovered’ lands--that is, lands unknown to Europeans who then claimed property rights and sovereignty through military conquest. Indigenous people lost their land titles [an unfamiliar concept to them] and retained only the right of occupancy and use. Conquerors deemed the land Terra Nullius--’empty’ land.

European and American Art 1700-1900 – Sketch Aesthetic

The Sketch Aesthetic

The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in France [founded 1648] was the most powerful and most imitated art institution across Europe and North America. Rigorously disciplined, it prescribed precisely the process by which art should be made: from inception [permière pensée or first thought], to compositional study (esquisse), to sketch harmonizing the color palette (étude), through presentation study, a small-scale version of the final composition.

“Why does a beautiful sketch please us more than a beautiful painting?” This simple question, posed by the art critic Denis Diderot in 1767, launched a debate that culminated in what we now regard as “Modern” art. Artists, critics, and patrons questioned the validity of the long, arduous process it took to create an artwork. By the time the painting or sculpture was finished, they complained, the spark of the artist’s genius was extinguished.

This debate about which was more desirable--the “finished” or “unfinished” work--marks the moment at which the purpose of art started shifting from didactic [relying on a command of the narrative subject matter and slick execution] to one that communicated a shared human experience as expressed by the artist.

Mimesis (illusionism) was no longer the objective; rather an authentic rendering of the artist’s personal vision conveyed as expressive surfaces was the point. This cult of what was considered “genius” is a hallmark of Modern art.

European and American Art 1700-1900 – The Design Aesthetic

The Design Aesthetic

The Decorative Arts hold a special place in the study of visual culture; they expand our understanding of daily life at the time of use as well as the relationship between aesthetics, history, technology and economics.

In this gallery, you will find a range of representative examples from prominent factories such as Doccia, Meissen, Sèvres, and Staffordshire. These are luxury objects meant to communicate wealth and taste, yet they also function as soup tureens, punch bowls, cups and saucers, tea and coffee pots and sugar bowls. Even the figurines are descendants of sculptures made out of sugar to adorn elaborate tablescapes.

Collaboration is key in the making of decorative art objects. The person who designed the vessel [determining its shape and scale] is likely different from the person who created the ornamentation, and that person may be different from the person who executed the design. This gradual transformation in how goods were produced and brought to market, together with the expansion of trade with India and China and the colonization of the Americas, anticipates the Industrial Revolution--a precursor to our modern economy.

Mary, Queen of Families Chapel

Art, History, and the Catholic Church

The history of art and the history of the Catholic Church have been closely interwoven for millennia. In fact, most of the art featuring Christian themes in museums around the world was originally intended for public or private devotion. When considering religious or liturgical art, many think of historical examples but the past continues in conversation with the present. This chapel brings significant paintings from the thirteenth to early sixteenth centuries together in dialogue with contemporary works by Mimmo Paladino. With work in collections across the globe, Paladino has also produced stage designs and films. He has additionally created liturgical project for the Vatican, Pope Francis, and Saint John Paul II.

Paladino initially garnered widespread critical acclaim as a leading figure of the Transavanguardia [literally “before the avant-garde”] movement that originated in Italy and spread across Europe and America. Members embraced figurative imagery and symbolism, connecting with the larger history of art over recent trends of abstraction and conceptual art. Paladino’s work can be both universal and personal, often in reference to nature, literature, history, spirituality, and the world of art--present and past.

For Mary, Queen of Families, Paladino was commissioned for a ceiling mosaic, a stained-glass window, and incised wall frescoes replete with rich symbolic references to the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Catholic liturgy, the Congregation of Holy Cross, and the natural terrain and Indigenous people of this region. In preparation for this project, Paladino studied the history of Marian imagery, the University of Notre Dame, and the landscape. His goal was to connect present and past around imagery of the Virgin Mary, animating the collections of the Museum in an authentic way.

This chapel celebrates the close relationship between the history of art and the history of the Catholic Church, specifically the Virgin Mary as mother, intercessor, and patroness of the University of Notre Dame.

This chapel and Mimmo Paladino’s project were made possible through the extraordinary generosity of Virginia A. Marten--a longstanding and devoted member of the Museum Advisory Council and steadfast supporter of the Museum’s Decorative Arts collection.

European Art Through 1700 – Spirit: Matter

Spirit: Matter

Saint Augustine, in his book On Christian Doctrine, wrote that devotional objects are to be used “so the invisible things of God may be clearly seen…so that by the means of corporal and temporal things we may comprehend the eternal and spiritual.” With that, the Catholic Church became one of the greatest patrons of the visual arts throughout history. With its collecting activity and its construction of the adjacent chapel dedicated to Mary, Queen of Families, the University of Notre Dame continues a commitment to human creativity that has been a Catholic tradition for millennia.

In 1517, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther called out the abuses of the administration of the Catholic Church in his 95 Theses, setting off a schism called the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic Church responded by holding the Council of Trent from 1545 until 1563 examining its doctrines and reforming some practices. In 1582, Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti published De sacris et profanis imaginibus [Sacred and Profane Images] reaffirming the Church’s reliance on sacred art--”silent preaching” with a firm foundation in scripture.

In these galleries, the European art on display introduces Christian Humanism, the belief that we can cultivate a distinctly Christian intelligence through the study of Greek and Roman classical heritage, combined with a study of scripture. It shows the continuity of ideas, such as the veneration of the saints, while the approaches and practices evolved in response to ever changing and expanding worldviews. Finally, it retraces the steps taken by those who came before us in their efforts to define beauty, so that we many find our own today.

European Art Through 1700 – Worship

Spirit: Matter

The use of art in Christianity is distinct from idolatry in that the object only refers to what is depicted. Its materiality [color, light, gold, silver, copper, jewels, scent, sound] is meant to transport us to a spiritual realm by way of our senses. The ephemeral nature of material things is measured against the eternal nature of God. This odyssey of the soul rises from sensation to perception and on to spiritual knowing.

In the practice of Christianity, as in many other faiths, art functions as an aid to public and private devotion. Processional crosses, multi-paneled altarpieces that open and close, and service ware designed for the liturgy are used to guide congregants’ attention, to teach them tenets of faith and the history of the Church. Many of the personal objects in these galleries [crosses, jewelry, illuminated manuscripts] dating from the tenth to the eighteenth century served as easily carried--or easily hidden--religious touchstones, material aids used for the contemplation of the mysteries of faith.

European Art Through 1700 – Worship 2

Spirit: Matter

European and American Art 1700-1900 – The Persistent (Classical) Past

The Persistent (Classical) Past

The works of art on view in these galleries illustrate the esteem that Europeans and Americans placed on the ideas, philosophies, laws, and systems of government produced by the ancient Greeks and Romans, whose past grandeur was evident everywhere in their architectural ruins and in their myths, poetry and histories preserved by the early fathers of the Christian Church and Medieval scholars. By 1700, this cultural heritage offered a rich foundation upon which to forge a “modern” world.

Chief among these ideas was mimesis. Art that is mimetic presents the world illusionistically--improving upon reality rather than mirroring it and evoking the eternal rather than the momentary. Allegories [personifications of abstract ideas] were used to teach discipline and restraint as well as to impose order. Artists used stories from ancient mythology, the Bible, and history to teach respect for classical ideals using instructive scenes of heroism (masculine) and virtue (feminine), acknowledging the social and moral responsibility of the wealth [known as noblesse oblige] while simultaneously reinforcing and expanding its structures of power.

European Art Through 1700 – Faith and Morality

Faith

What is it that distinguishes Christianity from other religions?

Like Judaism from which Christianity developed, Christians are monotheistic. They believe in one God present in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They believe the divine became human in the person of Jesus, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and maintained his divinity in the Virgin birth. His incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection redeem Christians of original sin.

Christians also believe in the “communion of saints”--the spiritual union of all its members, both living and dead, except for those who are damned. Saints are united with Christ, and they, along with Mary, the mother of Christ and the first among all saints, intercede on behalf of the faithful.

Why does so much of early European art depict these tenets of Christian faith? Art was used to teach, to persuade, to demonstrate power, to reinforce social and political relationships, and to inspire awe. Biblical texts and writings by subsequent theologians and philosophers animated artists and their patrons, as these ‘narratives in paint’ depict the mysteries of the faith to the faithful.

Today, the power of these sacred works may be recognized by both believers and non-believers. They offer a spiritual gateway, transporting us into a different realm. They also reveal the relationship between making images and making meaning.

Morality

In Europe and its colonies, Christianity has been the traditional source of morality, providing principles to distinguish between right and wrong, good and bad behavior. The belief that people have souls and that those souls need to be saved drove the production of art for many centuries. Art offered lessons about morality and reminders of mortality; it depicted people [often saints] and acts that were good and should be imitated, and conversely, those that were bad and should be avoided.

With its foundation in ancient philosophy and humanism, scenes depicted in art, together with the language of symbols, were used to teach sound judgment and reflection. Christian lessons of morality intersected with the growing global movement of people and goods. The Dutch Republic, for example, newly independent from Catholic Spain in 1581 and embracing Protestantism, dominated trade in Indonesia and made inroads into the Caribbean, West Indies and parts of Brazil. Their industry and business acumen are recorded in numerous seascapes, views of productive mills, and the portraits of stoic burghers and learned civic leaders dressed in somber black suits and extravagant lace collars or flamboyant ruffs.