The musealization of the sacred

Abstract

Many sacred objects of antiquity can be found in museums. From the altars of temples to the halls of museums, objects have gone from veneration to the admiration of experts and critics, and being cataloged by museologists. The discovery of sculptures by Greco-Roman gods opens the galleries of Vatican museums in the Renaissance; disputes over Egyptian sarcophagi and parts of Greek temples expanded the collections of museums founded in the early nineteenth century. Roman Catholic religious sacred art was also shifted from churches to museum galleries in the nineteenth century at the time of the renewal of the church, which lasted in part in the modernist century. Before, in temples, they lent themselves to veneration and objects fulfilled the role of intermediation with the divine. When displaced to museums - which are aimed at preservation - they become objects of research, such as the relics of Christ, cultural documents of societies and materialization of artistic styles. In addition to relics, museums - such as the Pergamon in Berlin, Cluny in Paris, Cloisters in New York, and the Duomo Opera in Florence - preserve important religious cultural remains.