Art Eyewitness Review: Divine Egypt at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

Divine Egypt

Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 12, 2025 - January 19, 2026 

Reviewed by Ed Voves

Original photography by Anne Lloyd and Ed Voves

Visitors to the web site of the Metropolitan Museum of Art are greeted with the welcoming statement, "The Met presents 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy."

That's no idle remark. The Met does indeed share great works of art from across the centuries and spanning the entire human habitat. 

What is remarkable about this statement is that one of the star performers among the Met's nineteen curatorial departments presents works of art created in just one geographical location for a period of over 3000 years.

Where was this society of ancient over-achievers to be found? It was the extraordinary nation whose "lifeblood" was the Nile River. From the waters of the Nile arose the "black land." Carefully cultivated, this narrow ribbon of rich soil produced bountiful crops of wheat and barley, of temples and tombs.

This astonishing realm was, of course, Egypt.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Triad of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, 872-837 B.C.

The Met's Department of Egyptian Art is mounting its most audacious enterprise since the opening of the Temple of Dendur in September 1978, which was followed a few months later by the fabled Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibition at the Met.

Divine Egypt charts the entire course of ancient Egyptian history. This is a radical departure from earlier exhibitions focusing on a single era, like the Met's 2015 Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom (2010 -1630 B.C.). From the pre-dynastic period (beginning around 3,800 B.C.) to the occupation of Egypt by the Greeks under Alexander the Great three millennia later, Divine Egypt emphasizes the centrality of religion in the lives of generation after generation of people living along the banks of the Nile.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

   Gallery view  of Divine Egypt , showing, from left, Double Statue of King Haremhab and Horus, ca. 1323–1295 B.C. & Hathor seated between King Menkaure and a Personification of the Hare Nome, ca. 2490–2472 B.C.

Divine Egypt at the Met is not a "once in a lifetime" exhibition but, rather, one for the ages.

Max Hollein, the President/CEO of The Met, Diana Craig Patch, head of the Met's Egyptian art department, and the entire Divine Egypt team have achieved a level of curatorial excellence where even the remark, "only the Met could have done this", is not praise enough.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

Max Hollein, President/CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 

examining the statue of Wepwawet and Isis-Hathor, 1279-1213 B.C.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Diana Craig Patch, head of the department of Egyptian Art at The Met

Two hundred works of art in a wide range of artistic media insure that Divine Egypt is a visually stunning exhibit, as well as an encyclopedic treatment of Egyptian culture. Most of these "beautiful things" proclaimed Egypt's inter-twined religious and political ideology, but quite a few served utilitarian purposes as well.

Anne Lloyd, Photos (2025)

At left, Water Lily Attachment (1070-664 B.C.), probably a processional ornament; Mirror Displaying a Bat-like Face, 1479-1425 B.C.

One hundred forty of these works of art come from the Met's own collection. Others have traveled from the Louvre, the Ny Carlsberg in Denmark, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and the British Museum, which loaned its huge sculpture of a sacred scarab beetle. Easily, the most alarming object in the Met's exhibition (at least, to modern eyes), the scarab beetle was a more reassuring creature to ancient Egyptians. It symbolized creation and rebirth.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

Gallery view of the Divine Egypt exhibit, showing a scarab sculpture,

 Ptolomaic era, 332-30 B.C. from the British Museum collection

From closer to home, comes one of the first highlights of Divine Egypt. This is the Triad Statue of Hathor, King Menhaure and a Personification of the Hare Nome. Excavated by the famous Harvard University–Museum of Fine Arts Boston Expedition in 1908–9, this Old Kingdom sculpture never loses its power.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

 Hathor seated between King Menkaure and a Personification of the

 Hare Nome, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, ca. 2490–2472 B.C. 

The extraordinary masterpieces displayed in Divine Egypt illustrate five key themes of the Egyptian attitude to daily living and eternal life.

This topical approach stresses insight into fundamental ideals and a sense of continuity rather than a conventional historical narrative. Let's take a look at these themes.

The first theme, "Expressing the Divine", focuses on two of Egypt's oldest gods: Horus and Hathor. The falcon-headed Horus can be traced back to pre-dynastic times. Hathor, a shape-shifting, nurturing deity is first documented in 2,600 B.C., during the Old Kingdom. This goddess was certainly a potent spiritual figure far earlier.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

Hathor Pendant, Napatan era, 747-713 B.C. 1665. 

Hathor is recognizable by her distinctive head-ornament composed of cattle horns and a sun disk. This regalia evoked the very distant past of the Egyptians when many of them were nomads with herds of cattle which grazed on the "Green" Sahara. Then a shift in weather patterns, from 4900 to 4400 B.C., scorched this verdant area, evaporating its lakes and rivers and turning the grasslands into the world's most formidable desert. With Hathor as their guide, these first Egyptians found refuge in the valley of the Nile.

According to a later Egyptian writing, the fearsome-visaged Horus battled Seth, the god of the desert and lord of chaos, in a cosmic struggle to determine who would rule Egypt. 

Horus emerged as victor in this mythological combat, earning a prominent place in both religious and political iconography. In Egypt, these were practically the same thing.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

Double Statue of King Haremhab and Horus, ca. 1323–1295 B.C.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Serekh of King Raneb, Dynasty 2, ca. 2880 B.C.

So important was Horus to Egypt's identity, that all pharaohs took a "Horus name" as part of their title. The symbol of a falcon was placed on top of a rectangular emblem of a palace (above).This badge of authority was called a serekh, usually sculpted onto granite pillars called stelae.

Where Hathor changed her appearance in often bewildering ways, Horus the Falcon retained his original identity, century after century. This can be studied by examining one of the oldest, if rather mundane, artifacts on view in Divine Egypt. This, in turn, may be contrasted with one of the most striking works of art in the entire exhibition.

From left: Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Wine Jar with an early Serekh.  Predynastic Period, ca. 3300–2960 B.C; Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) 

Statue of Horus as a Falcon Protecting King Nectanebo II, 360 B.C.

The earthenware vessel, likely a wine jar, in the above illustration was produced at some point between 3300 to 2960 B.C. If the latter date is the correct one, then it was created 2,600 years before the Statue of Horus as a Falcon Protecting King Nectanebo II. But this staggering age differential is not the most significant feature of these contrasting artifacts. Both are dedicated to Horus.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025)

 Detail of Horus/Falcon Motif on a Wine Jar with an early Serekh.  Predynastic Period, ca. 3300–2960 B.C.

If you carefully examine the pitted surface of the wine jar, you will see a carefully inscribed symbol of a falcon, standing on top of a serekh. Its design is similar to a serekh associated with the first pharaoh, Narmer, who unified Egypt's two major regions.

The wine jar comes from the area of Naqada. Located in the bend of the Nile in Upper (southern) Egypt, Naqada was one of the first major cities on the banks of the Nile. This was the region ruled by Narmer before he subdued the northern, delta area of Egypt, where the Nile flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

Since beer was the national drink of Egypt and wine was a rare, mostly imported, product, this raises a tantalizing speculation. Might this wine jar, marked with the Horus serekh, have been transported from the Mediterranean coast as a tribute gift for Narmer or another early Egyptian ruler of the unified kingdom?

We are never likely to answer this question for certain. But the representation of Horus on both of these remarkable works of art testifies to the astonishing longevity of Egyptian religious symbolism and the enduring faith experience which sustained it, century upon century.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Gallery view of Divine Egypt showing an Obelisk from a cemetery for sacred mummified rams, Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.

The second theme, "Ruling the Cosmos", shifts our attention to Amun-Re, whose majestic countenance is revealed in the introductory image of this review. Sun God and supreme ruler of Egypt's numerous gods and goddesses, Amun-Re made a daily journey across the sky bringing light and life to the world. At night, he ventured to the underworld to preserve the cosmic order of "what was right."

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Relief of Maat, New Kingdom, reign of Seti I, ca. 1294–1279 B.C.

While engaged in these tasks, Amun-Re could rely on the assistance of subordinates from the Egyptian pantheon. Especially important was Goddess Maat, who judged the souls of human beings by weighing them with the ostrich feather which adorned her wig.

In the third theme, the curators of Divine Egypt emphasize a truly distinctive attribute of Egyptian religion. There was not one creation myth to explain how world began. Instead, there were several origin stories. These complemented, rather than contradicted, each other.

Two of the "show-stopper" works of art help us grasp how the multiplicity of gods and goddesses, symbols and coded images worked to create an all-embracing Egyptian "world view." These are the Inner Coffin of Singer Nauny and the Coffin of Wedjarenes.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Inner Coffin of Nauny, Third Intermediate period, ca. 1050 B.C.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025)

 Interior of the Coffin of Wedjarenes, Saite period, 600-575 B.C.

In the case of the Coffin of Wedjarenes, the really significant cosmological images are inside the coffin. Only Wedjarenes, the daughter of one of Egypt's priestly caste, can see them. And Wedjarenes will continue to see these for all time. Her body has been properly embalmed and treated with the all of the rituals and prayers which are due to individuals whose souls have been weighed on the ostrich feather of Maat and found worthy of eternal life.

Here we confront one of the central features of Egyptian art, especially the great treasures on view in museums around the world. 

The great mass of Egypt's people seldom glimpsed these works of art; in many cases, even priests like Wedjarenes' father, never saw them at all. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 An installation in the Divine Egypt exhibition evoking Egyptian religious processions. Sacred images of gods like the golden Amun-Re were carried in a shrine on a barque, or boat. 

However, on festival days, certain works of art were placed on movable shrines, shaped like the river boats which ferried the gods through the afterlife. These were carried through the streets of Egyptian cities like Thebes. 

The Met curators created a splendid tableau evoking these public celebrations, with a golden statuette of Amun positioned serenely at its helm. In the actual procession such a stature would have remained shrouded, unseen from the crowds of people, asking and petitioning for a blessing or cure from illness.

        

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Statuette of Amun-Re, ca. 945-712 B.C.

No great religion can survive for long without offering outlets for widespread devotion or prayers for divine assistance. Ancient Egypt certain provided these, as shown by the Met's fourth theme, "Coping with Life." But a principal form of popular expression involved Bes-images. As I have had little opportunity to study these curious objects, I will defer commenting on them until I write a follow-up essay on Divine Egypt.

The fifth theme is "Overcoming Death." The Egyptian quest for immortality hardly needs elaboration here. But two points raised in this final exhibit gallery do call for comment.

The main mythological drama surveyed here is the epic tale of the death and rebirth of Osiris, the valiant role of Isis in reviving Osiris, and the procreation of the savior child, Horus. 

Anne Lloyd, Photos (2025)

  Details from statues (from left) of Osiris (664-332 B.C.) -

 Isis/Hathor (1779-1213 B.C.) - Horus the Child (332-30 B.C.)

All of the figures in this legendary story incorporated attributes of older gods and goddesses. Osiris wears a kingly crown and carries the scepters of rulership, like Amun-Re. Isis has become almost indistinguishable from Hathor. Horus, no longer falcon-headed, presents the appealing face of youth and hope for the future.

The second point is perhaps more significant. The Osiris-Isis-Horus myth was immensely appealing - and not just for Egyptians. It pointed the way to the mystery creeds of late-antiquity and the religious revolution of monotheism. 

Over time, Egypt's many gods and goddesses began to merge into an awesome spiritual unity, a divine presence which was no longer to be confined in the darkened recesses of temple and tomb.

***

Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved.

Original photgraphy, copyright of Anne Lloyd and Ed Voves

Introductory image: Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) A Statue of Amun-Re Presenting and Protecting King Tutankhamun. New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Tutankhamun (ca. 1336–1327 BCE) From Egypt, Thebes, Karnak. Diorite. Musée du Louvre, Paris, Départment des Antiquités Egyptiennes (E11609)

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Triad of Osiris, Isis, and Horus. Glass, Gold, Lapis Lazuli: 9 × 6.6 cm (3 9/16 × 2 5/8 in.) Pedestal: 5 × 10.3 × 15.2 cm (1 15/16 in. × 4 1/16 in. × 6 in.) Musée du Louvre DE.075

 Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Gallery view of the Divine Egypt Exhibition, showing, from left, Double statue of King Haremhab and Horus, ca. 1323–1295 B.C. and, on the right, Hathor seated between King Menkaure and a Personification of the Hare Nome, ,ca. 2490–2472 B.C. Full citations below.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Max Hollein, President/CEO of the Metropolitan Museum, examines a statue of Wepwawet and Isis/Hathor, 1279-1213 B.C.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Diana Craig Patch, head of the Department of Egyptian Art at The Met.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Water lily attachment, probably for a processional          barque. Bronze, gold foil over gesso; white, dark blue, and light blue glass inlays over light and dark blue grounds: H. 13.5 × W. 15.8 × D. 9.2 cm (5 5/16 × 6 1/4 × 3 5/8 in) The Metropolitan Museum of Art #30.8.232a

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)Mirror with a papyrus-shaped handle displaying a Bat-like face. Silver disk with a wood (modern) handle sheathed in gold; the inlays are modern: H. 33.4 × W. 15.5 × D. 2 cm (13 1/8 × 6 1/8 × 13/16 in.) The Metropolitan Museum of Art. #26.8.98

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Gallery view of the Divine Egypt Exhibition, showing  a Monumental Scarab Stone, Diorite: 153 × 119 × 90 cm, 1600 kg (60 1/4 × 46 7/8 × 35 7/16 in., 3527.4 lb.) British Museum, # DE.097

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Hathor seated between King Menkaure and a Personification of the Hare Nome, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, reign of Menkaure (ca. 2490–2472 B.C.) Graywacke: Stone – Greywacke: 84.5 × 43.5 × 49 cm, 187.8 kg (33 1/4 × 17 1/8 × 19 5/16 in., 414 lb. Harvard University–Museum of Fine Arts Expedition excavations, 1908–9 Museum of Fine Arts Boston. #09.200

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Hathor-Headed Pendent, Napatan era, 747-713 B.C. Gold and rock crystal: 5.3 x 3.3 cm. (2 1/16 x1 5/16 in.) Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Double statue of King Haremhab and Horus. New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Haremhab (ca. 1323–1295 B.C.) Limestone: 53 × 73 × 77 cm, 942 kg (60 1/4 × 28 3/4 × 30 5/16 in., 2076.7 lb.) Pedestal: 40 × 87 × 91 cm (15 3/4 × 34 1/4 × 35 13/16 in.) Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna #ÄS 8301

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Serekh of of King Raneb, Dynasty 2, ca. 2880 B.C.  Granite: 100 x 42.5 x 27 cm. (39 3/8 x16 3/4 x10 5/8 inches) Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Wine Jar with an early Serekh, Predynastic Period, Naqada III–Early Dynastic Period, Dynasty 1 (ca. 3300–2960 B.C.). Pottery. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, #61.122

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Statue of Horus as a Falcon Protecting King Nectanebo II, 360 B.C. Stone - Metagraywacke:H. 72 × W. 20 × D. 46.5 cm, 55.3 kg (28 3/8 × 7 7/8 × 18 5/16 in., 122 lb.)

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Detail of Horus/Falcon motif on a Wine Jar with an early Serekh, ca. 3300–2960 B.C.) Citation above.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Gallery view of Divine Egypt showing an Obelisk from a cemetery for sacred mummified rams, Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Relief of Maat, New Kingdom, Dynasty 19, reign of Seti I (ca. 1294–1279 B.C.). From Egypt, Thebes, Valley of the Kings, tomb of Seti I (KV 17) Limestone painted with pigments. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence (2469)

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Inner Coffin of the Singer of Amun and Royal Daughter Nauny, Third Intermediate period, ca. 1050. Coniferous wood, Sycomore wood, mud, glue, paste paint, varnish, linen: L. 193 × W. 61 × D. 65.1 cm, 76.2 kg (76 × 24 × 25 5/8 in., 168 lb.) The Metropolitan Museum of Art 30.3.24a, b 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Inner Coffin of Nauny (detail). See citation, above.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Interior of the Coffin of Wedjarenes, Saite period, 600-575 B.C. Wood (tamarisk and sycomore fig), paste, paint: Base (a): H. 190.1 × W. 58.8 × D. 21.7 cm (74 13/16 × 23 1/8 × 8 9/16 in.);Lid (b): H. 191.3 × W. 58.8 × D. 37 cm (75 5/16 × 23 1/8 × 14 9/16 in.) Metropolitan Museum of Art #O.C.22a, b

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) An installation in the Divine Egypt exhibition evoking Egyptian religious processions. Sacred images of gods like the golden Amun-Re were carried in a shrine on a barque, or boat. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Statuette of Amun, Gold H. 17.5 × W. 4.7 × D. 5.8 cm, 0.9 kg (6 7/8 × 1 7/8 × 2 1/4 in, 2 lbs). The Metropolitan Museum of Art #26.7.1412

Anne Lloyd, Photos (2025) Photo of details of statues of Osiris (664-332 B.C.) - Isis/Hathor (1779-1213 B.C.) - Horus the Child (332-30 B.C.). All three statues are from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Art Eyewitness Review: To the Holy Sepulcher: Treasures of the Terra Sancta Museum at the Frick Collection

            

To the Holy Sepulcher: 

Treasures of the Terra Sancta Museum

The Frick Collection, New York City

October 2, 2025 - January 5, 2026

Reviewed by Ed Voves

After a five year, $220 million revitalization project, the Frick Collection has reopened its doors. Upon entering this fabled "museum mile" institution in New York City for the first time since 2019, my initial reaction was one of relief.

"This is the 'old' Frick, only better."

My snap judgement was certainly correct, but "only better" proved to be an understatement.

I've been going to the Frick Collection since the early 1980's and part its charm has always been its "oasis" of civilization ambiance. 

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

Gallery view of the Frick Collection, New York, showing

 Andrea del Verrochio's Bust of a Woman, ca. 1460-1470

The sensational array of the Old Master paintings and classic sculptures of its permanent collection and the splendid setting of the Garden Court and the awesome West Gallery, to list but a few Frick highlights ... would this idyllic realm be preserved? Or would the addition of a spectacular lecture hall, new exhibition galleries, up-scale book/gift shop and much more at the "new" Frick overwhelm the atmosphere of beauty and civility of the "old" Frick.

Well, these questions were answered with a resounding affirmation of careful planning and judicious balance,  incorporating new technology and 21st century amenities with the Frick's "gilded-age" heritage. During my first "look-see" back in the spring when the Frick reopened to public inspection, I was mightily impressed.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

A view of the entrance to the Frick Collection, New York City

When I returned on September 30 for the press preview of the first major exhibition to be mounted in the "new" Frick, I was prepared to be pleased. But the curators of the exhibit, To the Holy Sepulcher: Treasures of the Terra Sancta Museum, had taken a page from Serge Diaghilev's playbook. 

"Astonish me," Diaghilev would say to the set and costume designers of the Ballet Russes. And that is just what the curators of the Frick Collection did:

Astonish me.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

Throne of Eucharistic Exposition, 1665. Created by Pietro Juvarra

 and sons, as a gift from King Philip IV of Spain and Sicily

Entering the new exhibition gallery, named in honor of Ronald Lauder, was akin to peering into the just-opened tomb of Tutankamum back in 1925. 

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

 Red Pontifical Vestments of King Louis XIII of France, 1619. Created by Alexandre Paynet for the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem

Gleaming works of art in precious metals, set with jewels. Sumptuous garments. "Beautiful Things" which elicited many an "Oh, my God" and gasps of wonder from members of the press - people not easily wowed.

However, for all of the golden aura of the treasures on display in the Lauder Gallery, their value can only - truly - be computed in terms of religious ideals, of devotion to God.  

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

The Resurrection, silver bas-relief, created in Naples, 1736

This is the real theme of To the Holy Sepulcher: Treasures of the Terra Sancta Museum. Reflect for several minutes in front of the monumental silver relief depiction of Christ's Resurrection, created in Naples in 1736, and you will, I believe, adjust your focus from the things of this world to those of the next.                                                                                                                                                        

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

Gallery view of the To the Holy Sepulcher: Treasures of the

 Terra Sancta Museum, showing Crucifix from Naples, 1756, and Throne of Eucharistic Exposition, 1754, also from Naples.

                                                 . 

This depiction of the risen Christ, cast and chased in silver, was intended to focus the minds of Christian faithful on the dramatic moment of mankind's liberation from sin. But most of the other works of art on view in the Frick exhibition - all from the collection of the Terra Sancta Museum in Jerusalem - had a utilitarian rather than contemplative function. 

During the 1500's-1700's, rulers in Roman Catholic nations in Europe - France, Spain, Portugal, the Republic of Venice and others - commissioned ecclesiastical vessels and vestments for use in religious services in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. This holy shrine was built on the reputed site where the body of Jesus was buried after his crucifixion and where his resurrection from the dead occurred. Only the most valuable materials could be used and the finest craftsmen be employed for such a sacred purpose.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

Crucifix, created in Naples, 1756. Crafted in gold and lapis lazuli, with garnets, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, quartzes, and glass.

An example of the concept that "only the best, is good enough" for the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the crucifix (above), created in Naples and delivered to Jerusalem in June 1737. Its blue color comes from the rare mineral pigment from Afghanistan, lapis lazuli, and it was embellished with almandine garnets, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, quartzes and decorative glass.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

Crozier donated by King Louis XIV of France to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, 1654-55. Created by Nicolas Dolin in embossed gilt silver.

The motives which led monarchs like France's Sun King, Louis XIV, or the crafty Doges of Venice, to invest significant financial resources in a bishop's staff known as a crozier or a set of huge candle holders called torcheres (below) were a blend of public piety and craving for political prestige.  

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

One of a Pair of Torchères, 1762. Created by the Al San Lorenzo

 Workshop in Venice and sent to Jerusalem in 1765. 

Neither donor intention, especially the second, was entirely in keeping with one of the essential precepts of Christian doctrine. This was proclaimed in the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 6, 19-21.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

This sound spiritual advice was frequently ignored by the donors of of these expensive gifts. The French monarchy, during the 1600's, was especially determined to remind the recipients of its gifts in Jerusalem who their benefactor was. As can be seen below, the royal symbol of France, the fleur-de-lis, was engraved and embroidered on every possible space of these works of ecclesiastical art, even on the cross upon which Jesus was martyred.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

Processional Cross, bearing the Fleur-de-lis symbol of the French Monarchy, ca. 1620. Attributed to Claude Caignet; donated by Louis XIII. 

By contrast with this excessive royal "branding", the silver bas relief of Christ's resurrection, which we commented upon earlier (shown again, below), merely lists the city of its origin, Naples, and the date of its creation, in a placard above the dramatic scene.

Ed Voves Photo (2025) Detail of The Resurrection, 1736

A practical solution was found to deal with the contradiction of professed piety and worldly ambition. The treasures which the Catholic rulers of Europe sent to Jerusalem were stored, not in heaven, but in the safe-keeping of devout monks, dedicated to lives of holiness, service and poverty. They were - and remain to this day - known as the Order of the Friars Minor, the Frati Francescani, the Franciscans.

Founded in 1209 by St. Francis of Assisi, the Franciscans have been active in the Holy Land for eight hundred years. It takes some time for this span of time to register, but is even more incredible when an additional calculation is factored in. For over five hundred years, from the fall of the last Crusader fortress in 1291 to the landing of Napoleon's expeditionary force in Egypt in 1798, the Franciscans were the only Western European group to maintain a lasting presence in the Holy Land.

The Franciscan mission to the Holy Land began with St. Francis himself in 1219, when he ventured to Egypt to meet Sultan Malek-al-Kamil. Francis' hope to convert the Muslim leader predictably failed. His courage and piety, however, made a lasting and favorable impression. This was quite a contrast to the European military attempts of the era, the Crusades, which attempted to regain the Holy Land by force of arms.

The last Crusader stronghold, the fortress city of Acre, fell to the Muslim armies in 1291. Almost all of the European Christians seeking safety in Acre were slaughtered, enslaved or paid huge sums to greedy Italian ship captains for a passage to safety in Cyprus. A few Franciscans survived and courageously set themselves the task of tending to the remnant of survivors and to Christian pilgrims who undertook the dangerous journey to visit the holy places in Jerusalem.

Illustration from The Mission of the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land. From an historical account by Elzearius Horn OFM, 1731

Thus began the incredible story of the Franciscan mission to the Holy Land, which continues to this day. The formal name of the Franciscan mission in Jerusalem and the Middle East was termed the “Custody of the Holy Land.” 

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

Picture taken from the Frick Collection press preview lecture of

 To the Holy Sepulcher, showing curator Xavier F. Salomon describing the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, shown on the screen.

The mandate to serve the remaining Catholic population in the Holy Land and to protect the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, was granted to the Franciscans by a special order of Pope Clement VI in 1342.

The Franciscans lived lives of personal privation and much of the funds raised in Europe for their support went to Muslim rulers, as taxes and bribes. The stunningly beautiful vestments and Church vessels and implements on view in the Frick exhibit were for God’s service and in no way reflected the circumstances of the lives of the Franciscans who administered “the Custody of the Holy Land.”

One of the objects in the Frick exhibition which combines the ideals of beauty and actual use in the service of God is a vestment known as a cope, made in Genoa, Italy, at some point in the late 1600's. This incredible garment would have been worn by the Catholic priest celebrating the Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

Cope of the Red Pontifical Vestments of Genoa. Likely from the workshop of Domenico Piola. Gift of the Commissariat of Genoa, 1692.  

According to the exhibition text, the form of embroidery used to create this cope was called "needle painting", long and short stitch, using silk thread. Some actual painting on the fabric was also used.

The central image of this "needle painting" is a depiction of St. George slaying the Dragon. St. George was the patron saint of Genoa, Italy, whose fleet of warships frequently battled the Muslim Barbary pirates based in North Africa - when Genoa was't fighting its Christian rival, Venice.

For five hundred years, the Franciscans carefully and guardedly used the sacred works of art like this cope from Genoa. But in a bizarre twist of fate, the Franciscans not only preserved these crucifixes and croziers, candlesticks and copes from the Ottoman Turks. They saved them from the sorrowful fate which befell similar ecclesiastical treasures in Europe during the French Revolution.

When the French Revolution turned violent in 1792, followed by the aggressive military campaigns waged by the French Republic and Napoleon, the churches and monasteries of the Catholic Church were targeted. Many were desecrated and destroyed. First in France and then, as the French legions stormed into Italy, Germany and Austria, many of the sacred vessels used to celebrate the Christian Mass were seized and melted down to provide funding for further invasions and acts of vandalism.  

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

Throne of Eucharistic Exposition, 1754. Created by Antonio de Laurentiis. Delivered from Naples to Jerusalem, October 24, 1755. 

By the time of Napoleon's fall in 1815, almost all of the precious ecclesiastical art of Western Europe had been consumed by the French war machine. Only in Spain, where the populace successfully resisted the French invaders, were numerous works of sacred art preserved, similar to the splendid Throne of Eucharistic Exposition (1754), which we can now view in the Frick exhibit.

Given the tradition - and temptation - of seizing works of art, made of precious metal, and transforming them into weapons of war, the Franciscans kept their holy vessels and vestments a closely-guarded secret. For God's "eyes" only, as it were.

In 1902, the Franciscans opened an archaeological museum in Jerusalem - but the ecclesiastical treasures remained out-of-sight. It was not until the 1970's that scholars were given limited access to study these precious objects.

In 1997, several objects from the Franciscan archaeological museum were loaned to the Metropolitan Museum for its Glory of Byzantium exhibition. This was repeated in 2016 with the Met's exhibit, Jerusalem 1000-1400: Every People Under Heaven. With the success of these exhibitions, it was decided to mount exclusive displays of the Franciscan ecclesiastical treasures in Europe, beginning with a major exhibit at the Palace of Versailles in 2013.

That year, an even bigger decision was made by the Franciscans, to build an art museum in Jerusalem to complement its archaeological collection. For the first time, the Franciscan ecclesiastical treasures will be available for regular public study and enjoyment. The new venue, slated to open in 2027, will be called the Terra Sancta Museum - Art and History.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) 

Picture from the Frick Collection lecture on To the Holy Sepulcher, showing leading planners of the exhibition, (from left)

 art historian Benoît Constensoux, a member of the Franciscan Order, Father Stephane Milovitch, OFM, and Xavier F. Salomon

In the meantime, selections of the Terra Sancta treasures will be continue to be displayed in traveling exhibitions. The Frick Collection played a major part in this initiative, principally through the efforts of its former deputy director, Xavier F. Salomon. After the exhibition finishes its visit to the Frick, it will travel to the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. 

The "ambitions" behind the To the Holy Sepulcher exhibition and the new museum in Jerusalem exceed the usual scope of such ventures. True to their mission, the Franciscans are seeking to promote harmony and understanding among people of faith and differing forms of religious observance.

 "Dialog is a path of peace that we Franciscans have been following for centuries," noted Father Stephane Milovitch,

Father Milovitch served as the director of the Office of Cultural Heritage of the Custody of the Holy Land during the years of preparation for the To the Holy Sepulcher exhibition.

Ed Voves, Photos (2025) 

At left is a Monstrance, from Naples, 1746. At right, silver gilt ecclesiastical vessels donated by the Holy Roman Empire, 1700's

Will this wonderful exhibition at the Frick Collection and the Terra Sancta Museum, when it opens in Jerusalem, succeed in making such a meaningful statement? Will these displays of sacred works of art encourage peace in our contentious world? Admittedly, that is a lot to expect from the curators of art museums. 

Yet, on further reflection, there is always ground for hope and prayer. Miracles have been known to happen before in the Holy Land, the Terra Sancta.

***

Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved

Introductory Image:

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Detail of one of a set of Red Pontifical Vestments of King Louis XIII of France, 1619.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Gallery view of the Frick Collection, New York, showing Andrea del Verrochio's Bust of a Woman, ca. 1460-1470.

Exterior view of the Frick Collection, New York City, taken on September 30, 2025.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Throne of Eucharistic Exposition, Messina, 1665. Created by  Pietro Juvarra (ca. 1609–1705) and his sons Eutichio (d. 1682) and Sebastiano (d. 1701). Cast, chased, embossed, and partially gilt silver, and precious stones H. 73 1/4 in. (186 cm); w. 43 1/2 in. (110.5 cm); depth 15 15/16 in. (40.5 cm) Registered in Jerusalem as a gift from King Philip IV of Spain and Sicily, April 21, 1666. Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem (CTS-OA-25346)

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Red Pontifical Vestments of King Louis XIII of France, 1619. Created by Alexandre Paynet (or Penet) (act. 1615–56).Crimson damask and satin ground (not original). Applied embroidery: gold threads (filé, cordonnet, cannetille, both shiny and crimped), silver thread, silk thread of different thicknesses. Various types of braid; silver (clasps) Embroidery: couching, gaufrure, long and short stitch Cope 1: h. 59 1/16 in. (150 cm); w. 118 1/8 in. (300 cm) Cope 2: h. 60 1/4 in. (153 cm); w. 118 1/8 in. (300 cm) Cope 3: h. 59 13/16 in. (152 cm); w. 118 1/8 in. (300 cm) Dalmatic 1: h. 42 1/2 in. (108 cm); w. 48 in. (122 cm) Dalmatic 2: h. 42 1/2 in. (108 cm); w. 47 5/8 in. (121 cm) Antependium: h. 38 in. (96.5 cm); w. 82 11/16 in. (210 cm) Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem (CTS-OA 20534)

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) The Resurrection, Naples, 1736 Cast, chased, and repoussé silver H. 67 5/16 in. (171.5 cm); w. 78 9/16 in. (199.4 cm); depth 10 5/8 in. (26.7 cm) Inscription: In upper cartouche, NEAPOLI / A.D. MDCCXXXVI (In Naples, in the year of our Lord 1736) Provenance: Delivered from Naples to Jerusalem, August 13, 1737. Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem (CTS-OA-00007)

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Gallery view of the To the Holy Sepulcher: Treasures of the Terra Sancta Museum, showing Crucifix from Naples, 1756, and Throne of Eucharistic Exposition, 1754, also from Naples.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Crucifix, Naples, 1756. Gold, lapis lazuli, almandine garnets, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, quartzes, and glass H. 35 1/2 in. (90 cm); w. 13 1/2 in. (34.2 cm); depth 9 in. (23 cm) Emblems: On base, coat of arms of Commissariat of Naples. Provenance: Delivered from Naples to Jerusalem, June 3, 1757. Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem (CTS-OA-25331)

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Crozier donated by King Louis XIV of France, Paris, 1654-55. Created by Nicolas Dolin (act. in Paris 1648–84) Cast, embossed, chased and gilt silver; cabochons and table-cut amethysts (?) and blue glass h. 80 1/8 in. (203.5 cm); w. 6 11/16 in. (17 cm); depth 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm) Donated by Louis XIV, arrived in Jerusalem on May 8, 1658. Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem (CTS-OA-25416)

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) One of a Pair of Torchères, Venice, 1762. Al San Lorenzo Workshop. Cast, chased, and repoussé silver, gilded in parts H. 96 1/6 in. (244 cm); w. 27 9/16 in. (70 cm); depth 24 13/16 in. (63 cm) Inscriptions: In crowned shields at the base of each base, ANNO / DO. / MDCCLXII (In the year of our Lord 1762). Provenance: Delivered from Venice to Jerusalem, June 23, 1765. Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem (CTS-OA-25345)

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Processional Cross, bearing the Fleur-de-lis symbol of the French Monarchy, ca. 1620. Attributed to Claude Caignet (active as of 1609) and donated by Louis XIII. 107 7/8 x 20 1/4 x 6 6/16 in. (274 x 51.5 x 16 cm) Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem (CTS-OA-25347)

Illustration from The Mission of the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land. In Ichnographiae locorum Monumentorum Veterum Terrae Sanctae, by Elzearius Horn OFM, 1731. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican City, Vat. lat.9233.pt.3, 59r

Ed Voves, Photo (2025)  Picture taken from the Frick Collection press preview lecture of To the Holy Sepulcher, showing curator Xavier F. Salomon describing the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, shown on the screen.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025), Cope of the Red Pontifical Set of Vestments of Genoa, 1686-97. Probably workshop of Domenico Piola (1628–1703). Satin ground. Applied embroidery: silk thread in the manner of “needle painting” (long and short stitch); painting on silk H. 54 1/8 in. (137.5 cm); w. 110 13/16 in. (281.5 cm) Gift of the Commissariat of Genoa; arrived in Jerusalem, 1692 (CTS-OA-20271)

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Throne of Eucharistic Exposition, 1754. Created by Antonio de Laurentiis. Gold, gilt copper, almandine garnets, amethysts, rock crystal, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, carnelians, peridots, smoky quartzes, glass and doublets H. 68 3/4 in. (174.5 cm); w. 32 1/4 in. (82 cm); depth 15 3/8 in. (39 cm) Delivered from Naples to Jerusalem, October 24, 1755. Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem (CTS-OA-25392)

Ed Voves, Photo (2025)  Picture taken from the Frick Collection press preview lecture of To the Holy Sepulcher, showing leading figures in the planning of the exhibition,(from left) art historian Benoît Constensoux, an unidentified member of the Franciscan Order, Father Stephane Milovitch, OFM, and Xavier F. Salomon

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Monstrance, Naples, 1746. Gold, rubies, emeralds and diamonds: 27 15/16 x 10 1/4 x 7 1/16 in. (71 x 26 x 18 cm.) Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem.

Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Gallery Photo of the To the Holy Sepulcher exhibition, showing a display of silver gilt ecclesiastical vessels – ewer and basin, dish and chalice, a tray and cruets – donated by the Holy Roman Empire to the Franciscan Order in Jerusalem during the 18^th century.