A hint of the devine

Supernatural ImagesThe Ashmolean MuseumEnds 15th JanuaryYou almost expect church bells and choir music when you wander into the Supernatural Miracles Eexhibition. The exhibition does not simply hang images of the Virgin Mary but createsa shrine-like display which puts you in the position of worshipper. Eeach small photo is hung behind a wall which is perforated with holes, just large enough to see the whole picture contained inside. Bathed in light and barred by the wall, each small photo makes a demand for the viewer’s reverence.The exhibition displays photos of certain statues and paintings which are believed to have had the supernatural power to cure the sick or save the damned. Behind each image of Mary or Christ is a personal story of divine intervention; possessed by the devil, caught in a storm at sea or impaled by bull’s horns, cult-worshippers believe a supernatural presence, embodied by the image, helped snatch them from the jaws of death. Together, the miracle stories, the shrine-like display and the rich embellishment of each picture combine to create a very intense and individual sense of the power that the Virgin Mary has had over history.Most striking is the humility and simplicity of the pictures – a mother tenderly holding her son, looking out with a serene, almost plaintive expression onto the viewer. Yet most of the images have been hyped up, literally hoisted up onto a pedestal, decorated with the most luxurious materials and exuberant colours. The pictures are surrounded by a throng of plump cherubs, rich ornamentation, crowns and jewels – all the pomp and ostentation which runs counter to the very meaning of the image itself.Of all the images in the exhibition, it is those that have been neglected over time, abandoned by their original cult-worshippers, that are the most intriguing. When the relic has grown old and battered, the impact of the image and the story behind it takes on a more poignant, more human edge. For instance, a wooden statue of Christ on the crucifix was about to be burned before the statue apparently opened its eyes like a living person. The sculpture has aged but the facial expression is still pained, plaintive and strangely restful. Its worn condition only intensifiesthe sense of Christ as once a human in suffering.Along with the religious statues, there are depictions of the miracles themselves. The variety – an eighteenth century photo of a possessed woman or a modern painting of a man falling out of a high-rise building – all share in common an apparition of the Virgin Mary, enveloped in a puff of smoke and hovering over the human activity below. Her cult-worshiptranscends history, providing a powerful figure for refuge from the turbulence of the lives of believers.Glorified with rich ornamentation, the images have become like divine beings in themselves, testified by the way in which strange curative powers have been attributed to them over the years. Many of the images have lost their poignant, human touch, saturated by the grandeur that goes with it. But the ingenuity of the display, and the stories provided with each image, bring the viewer closer to a sense of the mysteries that have enthralled so many.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005