USD Magazine Spring 2020

A r t t h a t f i l l s t h e h e a r t a n d f e e d s t h e s o u l [ r e v e l a t o r y ] A N E X T R A O R D I N A R Y E X H I B I T I O N

BARBARA FERGUSON

T

by Krystn Shrieve

sheeting from the frame, we were especially curious to see the artwork we had built this ex- hibition around,” says Katherine Noland, operations coordinator for the University Galleries. Noland oversaw the installation and breathed a sigh of relief to know it had made its journey across the Atlantic safely. “When the art handlers finished installing the frame on the wall, we paused our work and all took a step back

bolts on the face of each crate, broke the customs and security seals and lifted the tops off. The Michelangelo drawing known as The Three Crosses was among the first to be revealed for the exhibition Christ: Life, Death and Resurrection , which was displayed on campus throughout the fall of 2019. It included more than 40 original drawings and prints by Italian Renaissance artists. “As we unwrapped the plastic

he lights were low, the air smelled faintly of new paint and fresh

to admire it for the first time,” Noland recalls. “The red chalk shone against the blue wall and the effect was as beautiful as we hoped it would be.” The Three Crosses , which depicts Christ on the cross between two thieves, is one of the few large-scale, fully fin- ished drawings by Michelange- lo to survive to present time — not just because it’s estimated to be nearly 500 years old, but also because it’s a sketch, a

wood, and while the perfectly controlled climate was decidedly cool, the excitement in the Hoehn Family Galleries was palpable on the morning that its latest art exhibit was so carefully uncrated and installed. A team from the British Museum and the University of San Diego’s galleries watched as art handlers unscrewed the

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