The sanctified artifacts of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher — valuables from the Jerusalem chapel that have been around for 400 years — have survived the Napoleonic era, medieval sieges, and transformative revolutions, but had yet to see what the lands looked like stateside. That is until now, when the Kimbell Art Museum became one of only two U.S. venues to host the grand and historic exhibition of “The Holy Sepulcher: Treasures From The Terra Sancta Museum.”
In partnership with the emerging Terra Santa Museum of Jerusalem, the exhibition arrives in Fort Worth for its second and likely final U.S. stop from March 15 to June 28 while its soon-to-be permanent archive home is completed.
But long before finding their way to the Jerusalem museum, these lavish gifts were presented to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher — often written as “Sepulchre” and overseen by the Catholic Franciscans — by some of the world’s wealthiest commissaries and monarchs in the 17th and 18th centuries. The church itself is one of Christianity’s most sacred sites, believed to be the grounds of Christ’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Today, six Christian denominations share and worship in the space — a dynamic the director of the exhibition, Xavier F. Salomon, describes as incredible yet chaotic and visually akin to the bustling rail hub of Pennsylvania Station (with the brushing of elbows between saints and priests instead of impatient commuters and slow-moving tourists, that is)…