USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - Public TV to Air Christ in Art Program Funded by Catholic Communication Campaign

Public TV to Air Christ in Art Program Funded by Catholic Communication Campaign

WASHINGTON (March 16, 1999) -- Public TV stations will air "The Body of Christ in Art," a spectacular program funded in part by the Catholic Communication Campaign and inspired by an extraordinary exhibit from Houston's Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.

The half-hour TV special will be seen on many public television stations during March and April.

"The Body of Christ " was produced by Voyager Productions of Michigan. It brings together works of art in numerous artistic media, from two continents and spanning six centuries, to demonstrate the persistence and significance of representations of Christ across many cultures.

The program will be fed to members of the APTVS public television programming service on March 19. Scheduling of the program will vary, so viewers should check with their public TV stations for local air dates and times.

The program features the exhibit "The Body of Christ in the Art of Europe and New Spain, 1150-1800," which opened on Dec. 21, 1997 and concluded on April 12, 1998.

James Clifton, Ph.D., director of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation and curator of the Houston museum's Renaissance and Baroque paintings, wrote the script for the program.

"This program introduces imagery that is rarely seen by the American public," said Dr. Clifton, "and it is intended to reveal the underlying purpose of a fascinating subject of Christian art."

The program features works by acclaimed artists including Giovanni Bellini, Sandro Botticelli, Albrecht Dürer, Peter Paul Rubens and Jacopo Tintoretto, as well as others from anonymous craftsmen and less well-known masters. Inspirational music heightens the viewer's artistic experience and distinguished actor Edward Hermann explains the symbolism, meaning and usage of the featured paintings, illuminated manuscripts, prints and textiles.

As Christians commemorate the passion and resurrection of Christ during the Lenten and Easter seasons, this beautiful program provides an opportunity for contemplation on the cultural impact of the most important figure of the past two thousand years.

Photo Caption: This Pieta�, ca. 1460-1470 from the School of Picardy, is one of the works featured in "The Body of Christ in Art," a half-hour special funded by the Catholic Communication Campaign coming to public television stations this month. Credit: Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston.