Material Objects Archive

Search Material Objects Archive

Objects, images, and a proliferation of materialities engage bodies and minds, events and ideas, in ways both profound and subtle. Material objects, especially as they are activated in religious practices broadly conceived, are situated at the heart of MAVCOR. This Material Objects Archive offers an ever-expanding online gallery of such objects. We invite you to use it as a tool for thinking and teaching, researching and writing—and we welcome your suggestions and contributions to this collaborative enterprise.

In 2017, MAVCOR initiated the MAVCOR Digital Spaces Project, documenting sacred spaces via 360º panorama (360s) and high resolution giga-pixel (Zooms) photography. You can view all Digital Spaces Project 360s and Zooms here, or you can check the appropriate box in the Material Objects Archive search to view affiliated material objects.

Material Objects

Interior of the Chapel of Our Lord of the Miracles

Date:
1942 CE
Tradition:
Roman Catholic
Place of Origin:
San Antonio
Repository:
University of Texas at San Antonio Libaries Special Collections
Keywords:
Christ, Architecture, Devotion, Healing, Photograph, Milagro
Great Mosque of Djenné

Date:
1907 CE
Medium:
handmade brick, clay, architecture
Tradition:
Islamic
Place of Origin:
Djenné
Keywords:
Architecture, Worship, Mosque, World Heritage Site
Bread and Puppet Theater

Schumann, Peter
Date:
1963 CE
Place of Origin:
New York
Keywords:
Protest art, Politics, Puppets
Maman

Bourgeois, Louise
Date:
1999 CE
Medium:
bronze, stainless steel
Place of Origin:
Bilbao
Repository:
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Subject:
Spider
Keywords:
Sculpture, Mother, Monumental
Opening Virgin (Vierge Ouvrante)

Date:
ca.1300 CE
Medium:
oak, linen, paint, gesso, woodcarving
Tradition:
Roman Catholic
Place of Origin:
Rhine Valley
Repository:
Images © Metropolitan Museum of Art (17.190.185)
Subject:
Virgin Mary
Keywords:
Virgin Mary, Sculpture, Devotion, Christ
Traveling Image of the Holy Child of Atocha

Tradition:
Roman Catholic
Place of Origin:
Plateros
Subject:
Christ
Keywords:
Immigration, Borders, Pilgrimage, Devotion, Saints, Sculpture
Sacramental Trees

Davies, Arthur Bowen
Date:
ca. 1915 CE
Medium:
oil paint, canvas, oil painting
Tradition:
Spiritualism
Place of Origin:
United States
Repository:
Art Institute of Chicago
Keywords:
New Religions, Theosophy, Pantheism, Nature, Painting
Icon of Mary

Deliyianni, Marina
Date:
2007 CE
Medium:
wood, egg tempera, gold leaf, panel painting
Tradition:
Protestant
Place of Origin:
Corfu
Repository:
Private Collection
Subject:
Virgin Mary
Keywords:
Icon, Family, Virgin Mary, Painting
Woman performing her devotion to the Hindu god Shiva

Date:
late 18th century CE
Medium:
gouache, paper
Tradition:
Shaiva
Place of Origin:
Rājasthān
Repository:
British Museum (1940,0713,0.52)
Keywords:
Music, Shiva, Puja, Linga, Painting, Ritual
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Akers, Benjamin Paul
Date:
1860 CE
Tradition:
Protestant
Place of Origin:
Roma
Repository:
The Colby College Museum of Art
Subject:
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Keywords:
Saints, Anti-Catholic, Sculpture, Polemic
The Stations of the Cross: Lema Sabachtani

Newman, Barnett
Date:
1958-1966 CE
Medium:
oil paint, acrylic paint, canvas, oil painting, acrylic painting
Repository:
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Keywords:
Ritual, The Passion, Human Condition, Atheism, Painting
The Virgin of Guadalupe, Extremadura, Spain

Date:
late 12th century CE
Medium:
cedar, paint, textile materials, woodcarving
Tradition:
Roman Catholic
Place of Origin:
Guadalupe
Subject:
Virgin Mary
Keywords:
Virgin Mary, Seat of Wisdom, Pilgrimage, Sculpture, Imagen de vestir