This is the first exhibition at Mona, Museum of Old and New Art comprising only old art, and the largest ever showing in Australia of jewel-like icons and related treasures with more than 140 devotional objects depicting saints, virgins, and other Christian holy subjects, revealing centuries of spiritual and aesthetic tradition.
Mona curator Jane Clark says: “While painting an icon may begin from an act of piety, the resulting object also lives as a work of art far beyond its original purpose” – a looking glass into deeper purposes served by human creativity.
Mother of God of the Passion, Crete, late 15th century. Private collection, Melbourne. Courtesy Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania
Mona, Museum of Old and New Art
30 September 2023 to 1 April 2024
Tasmania
