Museum of Art at BYU

At ten o’clock on Saturday morning James, Ali, Allan and I arrived at the Museum of Art at BYU. We planned to see the “Sacred Gifts” art exhibit. I knew it was an exhibit of the religious art of Carl Bloch, Heinrich Hofman and Frans Schwartz. All twenty plus paintings were of Christ. I didn’t understand that it was the actual paintings from the great cathedrals and museums in Europe that were on display at BYU. As much as I have been inspired by the prints of these paintings in books and on the walls in the church foyer, to see these actual paintings was extremely moving. The paintings were huge and amazing. We experienced the crowded exhibit in a very quiet, personal way. We each of us had an I-pad and headphones. We could study each painting as long as we wanted. Very quickly I learned how to find the music to each painting and then with the inspiring music playing I listened to the summary of each painting. The summary was the history, the motivation and artist of the painting. I figured how to use the “Perspectives” on the I-pad to see the painting (Some paintings were altar pieces from great Cathedrals in Europe) in its home in a famous Cathedral. It was like standing in front of the painting in its home place and turning slowly around and seeing the whole Cathedral all the way around, top to bottom. I will never get the chance to see those great Cathedrals, but now I feel like I have. Also under “Perspectives” were testimonies and comments from the church leaders and patrons of those Cathedrals. They told how the paintings touched their lives and why they were willing to share the paintings with us. I was so overcome with emotion looking at those great paintings of Christ that at times I just had to stop and gather myself before I wept all over the I-pad. It was a profound spiritual experience. One of my favorite paintings was painted by Heinrich Hofmann’s. It was a painting of the Resurrection with Christ standing in front of the tomb between two angels. Another favorite was an altar piece of five paintings called “The Mocking of Christ” by Frans Schwartz. I spent the most time studying this painting because the emotion in those five paintings…it was unbelievable. The painting by Carl Bloch , “Peter’s Denial”,personally touched me with a greater understanding about myself. I can’t convey the sacred insights I had standing in front of that painting, even though I have seen prints of that familiar painting many times in books. We spent over 2 hours studying the paintings and it wasn't enough time for me. I would love to go back.