Knights of Columbus Museum

I didn't plan on it this week, but I wound up making a short trip to some museums this afternoon. I made my way with my wife and kids to the Knights of Columbus Museum in downtown New Haven and we spent a larger portion of the afternoon at Yale Art Gallery. I had planned on heading to Yale later in the month, but since we were in the area I chose to head there today as well (I will be posting the Yale trip a little later in the week as there was far more to see there than at KoC). It's not on our list, and I wouldn't recommend doing a full report on any of the pieces, but I felt it interesting enough to make mention of what is here in a quick blurb.

I chose to make a trip to the Knights of Columbus Museum because I am unsure if anybody would consider it for art exhibition. I made my way there earlier this year at the suggestion of my Italian culture teacher, though I shortly found out there was not much in a museum centered around an Irish Catholic priest in regard to Italian culture. There is a small amount of artwork related to Christopher Columbus, and a Papal Gallery, with relics and donations from former Pope's, including a few portraits of the more recent ones.

As a brief background, if you are not familiar with the organization, The Knights of Columbus was a fraternal Catholic order founded by Michael J McGivney in 1882. The original efforts were based upon assistance to working-class and immigrant Catholics, but they also expanded to assist with charities and war-relief effort. The museum itself is focused more on artifacts from the organization's history, but there is an interesting Papal Gallery which houses some sculptures and paintings. I want to just focus on the sculpture that caught my interest. Both times I have been to the museum, it's been virtually empty and dead silent. I think this is due to the fact that it is more of a specialty museum than one in the traditional sense.

One of the more impressive sculptures that greets you in the main hallway is an imposing statue of Saint Peter. There are actually two in the hallway, both similar, and yet containing unique differences.

I wouldn't consider myself a religious person, but having been raised in that environment, I am pretty well-versed in theology, and truth be told I find religious art fascinating (you'll see quite a bit when I write up my visit to Yale). It's enduring; the symbolism either painted into the picture or sculpted into the figure is interesting to observe and ponder. This first statue of Saint Peter is a bronze replica of another statue fashioned by an artist named Francesco Magni for a college in Rome. Unfortunately, I am only able to find scant details on the artist and not enough to piece together background information from any credible sources. l notice two things form the start. The first thing that caught my eye the first time I saw it was not the keys (which are representative of Matthew 16:19 (KJV), "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.") but the hand gesture. Upon my first encounter with the statue, I had researched the meaning behind it, assuming it held some esoteric significance. It's actually common among religious paintings and icons throughout history, the Hand of Benediction. This is representative of both a blessing gesture and a nerve disorder which causes the aforementioned gesture.


The second statue a little ways down the hall again is different, in that it is a wooden reproduction of the statue that sits in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. The original was cast by Arnolfo di Cambio for Pope Boniface. Arnolfo di Cambio was a 13th century Italian sculptor, who studied under Nicolas Pisano. He is more famously known for beginning the design of the Duomo in Florence, which was later completed by Brunelleschi. There are similar themes to this representation of Saint Peter; we see the same Benediction hand gesture and the keys. What is added to this representation is the halo. We see halos commonly attributed to holy figures in the Christian church in art representative of them.

Of the two representations on display, I prefer the wooden carving over the bronze statue. I feel that the seated representation gives Peter more reverence. When you consider both, however, there is this impression that the two statues are almost complementary in telling the story of Peter. In the first piece, I get this sense from his standing and the type of garment he is wearing, that we are seeing Peter while he worked on earth, and in the second piece, we are getting a glimpse of Peter, at rest from his work for Christ and seated at one of the twelve thrones that the apostles were told they would occupy at the Judgement. The lighting in the area adds to the piece also. Unfortunately, I feel like my phone captured too much of the light in the area; the museum is somewhat on the dim side throughout the whole building.

Retrieved from https://www.biblehub.com/matthew/16-19.htm

 

Britannica, T. E. (2011, December 07). Arnolfo di Cambio. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arnolfo-di-Cambio