Material Objects Archive

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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

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
The Dolgellau Chalice and Patten

Date:
ca. 1230-1250 CE
Medium:
silver, gilding, metalworking
Tradition:
Roman Catholic
Place of Origin:
Dolgellau
Repository:
Keywords:
Eucharist, British Catholicism, Monastic, Liturgical, Chalice, Patten
Buddhist votive stele

Date:
Northern Wei Dynasty
Medium:
limestone, carving
Tradition:
Buddhist
Place of Origin:
China
Repository:
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (23.120)
Keywords:
Community, Laity, Monument, Family, Sculpture
Ancestor portraits at Mogao Cave 231

Date:
ca. 839 CE
Medium:
paint, mural painting
Tradition:
Chinese Buddhist
Place of Origin:
Dunhuang
Repository:
Wenwu chubanshe
Subject:
Ancestors
Keywords:
Filial Piety, Devotion, Memorial, Parents, Painting, Mural
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

Medium:
building stone, architecture
Tradition:
Roman Catholic
Place of Origin:
Santiago de Compostela
Keywords:
Pilgrimage, Cathedral, Romanesque, Architecture, Baroque
Amarumarcahuasi

Date:
ca. 13th-15th centuries CE
Medium:
rock, living rock, carving
Tradition:
Inca
Place of Origin:
Cuzco
Subject:
Huaca
Keywords:
Caves, Nature, Sculpture, Worship
Barquitos del San Juan: La Revista de los Niños

Estévez Jordán, Rolando
Date:
2007 CE
Medium:
watercolor, yarn, cloth, plastic, wood, magazines, children's literature
Tradition:
Santería
Place of Origin:
Cuba
Repository:
Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia, Gilbreath-McLorn Museum Fund (Accession # 2009.39 a and b)
Subject:
Orisha
Keywords:
Mixed Media, Elegua, Children, Periodical, Deities