Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons from Sinai
November 14, 2006—March 4, 2007
The Getty Center

While some celebrities who shall remain nameless may have been more interested in enjoying each other rather than the art, Holy Image, Hallowed Ground at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles does a masterful job of introducing and contextualizing Byzantine iconography. This may seem like esoteric subject matter, particularly for a major exhibition in a town better known for its plasticity and hedonism than for its religiosity, but it is attracting crowds, both religious and non-religious alike.

The exhibit is divided into three distinct areas: "Holy Image," "Holy Space" and "Holy Site." "Holy Image" defines iconography and presents the different types of icons found in Byzantine churches. "Holy Space" demonstrates the placement and significance of the icons in a church. "Holy Site" tells the story of Saint Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai—the home of all of the icons in the exhibit.

Dark lighting throughout the exhibit sets the contemplative mood, but one area in particular, "Holy Space," most evocatively created a context for the icons. In "Holy Space," the art works were positioned as they would be in a church, establishing a firm sense of place without actually building an immersive environment. Photographs and a diagram of the church aided in filling in the details of the ghost-structure of the church, but the lack of an actual templon (screen separating the sanctuary from the nave) allowed the art works to be the primary focus for the visitors.

The "Holy Site" area of the exhibit brought home the relevance of the icons and their home at the foot of Mount Sinai with a video filmed at Saint Catherine's Monastery depicting, in part, the contemporary Greek Orthodox monastic way of life. The monks explain that icons housed at the monastery are not just decorations, they are a vital link between the past and the present of the monastery and between the people who view them today and the represented saints and other holy people from long ago. And as the Archbishop in the video explains, while the primary job of a monk is to pray, the monastery tries to do a lot for the surrounding community—Christian, Jewish and Muslim alike.

The label copy in the exhibit was informative, but not detailed to the point of exhaustion. Similarly the size of the exhibit was just about right—there were enough artworks so that it felt like a major exhibition, but not quite so many that the end never seemed near enough. While the exhibit was crowded (the exhibition is popular, visiting requires timed-ticket entry), the flow was never bogged down or stifled. The exhibition presented a few main ideas, each illustrated with a dozen or so pieces, none of which had to be viewed in a particular order, allowing for a more free-flowing and organic visit without jeopardizing the narrative.

The success of Holy Image, Hallowed Ground was its simplicity in presentation; it created an informative atmosphere of sanctity and artistry without saying or doing too much. The net result was a fascinating, edifying and almost holy experience, although, unlike Moses on Mount Sinai before the burning bush, I was not required to remove my shoes.

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