Click here for the photos.

This is the descripton of the exhibition.  How surpised I was to find two very large tapestry maps and other map materials in an adjacent space.  (more commentary to follow when I get aroudn to it).

A unique show has been mounted at the Cathedral of St John the Divine (Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street): the historic Barberini tapestries, newly restored and cleaned, featuring the masterpiece tapestry set, The Life of Christ, commissioned by the Barberini family in Rome during the 1600's. Jamie Harper and Marlene Eidelheit have created an amazing display of these giant, brilliant tapestries and will be on hand for a tour and dinner lecture.

Called "Woven Monuments of Baroque Rome", the show examines how these tapestries evoked socio-economic, political, religious and cultural aspirations as did the works of the ancient Romans who demonstrated their power through monuments made of stone. The patrons, artists and weavers of the tapestries are surveyed highlighting the iconography, portability, history, afterlife and conservation of the set.

This is the first time The Life of Christ series has been exhibited fully cleaned and conserved from the time that it left the family's hands more than 125 years ago.

The National Endowment of the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Coby Foundation helped underwrite the project.

This amazing conservation project presents a rare view and fresh artistic insights into the life of Christ