Here is a link to a FoxNews video report on an art exhibit, Passion in Venice, at the Museum of Biblical Art in NYC. It includes brief comments by clergy, including Fr. Joseph Fessio. I saw the exhibit earlier this year; it was very good. But it was also strange viewing "art" that was originally created for sacred space, and viewing in the midst of casual conversations of other visitors. "Is it nothing to you who pass by?" kept occurring to me, but I took that not so much as directed to anyone but myself. Indeed, knowing Christ "and the fellowship of his sufferings" is not something to be taken for granted. But we do stand united at the foot of the Cross to the extent that we are willing to remain there.
A few years back, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles mounted an exhibit of Russian icons. A television essayist/reporter who viewed the exhibit observed that when put on display in modern museums, religious objects become “desacralized,” and are displayed merely as fine examples of human artistry and skill, lacking intrinsic value. In spite of that, he saw visitors at the Getty exhibit kneeling and crossing themselves before the icons. Maybe this goes to show that what is important in the contemplation of “religious art” is the attitude and reverence the visitor brings to it, and not the circumstances of its presentation. I thought about this same thing as I watched the CBS piece on Mt. Athos. Although it was done with respect, I still had a vague feeling that it was more of a travelogue, a visit to an exotic place where the people practiced strange customs.