Exhibit at University of Missouri

We want to let you know about what looks like an extensive exhibit at the University of Missouri called "The Sacred Feminine: Prehistory to Postmodernity." It began in late August and will continue through Dec. 24. An accompanying symposium takes place on Oct. 16-17 and there also additional events and lectures throughout the Exhibit period.

Here are some of the artifacts included in the exhibit, courtesy of Margaret A. Waddell via Lydia Ruyle , which I have condensed somewhat. Ruyle's Goddess banners were hung at a program about the music of Hildegard von Bingen in which Waddell participated in September, and which was presented in conjunction with the exhibit. The exhibit is described as having 8 parts: The Sacred Mother, The Dangerous Feminine, Female Sainthood, Models of Knowledge and Power, Devotees and Consorts, Divine Queen, Cult of the Virgin, Contemporary Interpretations:

The Sacred Mother: Aphrodite/Venus, Greece & Turkey;"Bird-Headed" Female, Northern Syria;Venus-Hathor, Egypto-Roman; Anandakandapadma, Hindu, Nepal; Parvati, Hindu, South India; Sarcophagus fragment with Isis (wings spread), Egypt; Head of Demeter, South Italy; Annapurna, Hindu, South India; Standing Isis, Egypt; Seated Isis with Horus/Harpokrates, Egypt;"Gingerbread" Figurines of Standing Nude Women with Crossed Ear Plugs, Pre-Columbian, Mexico; Astarte Plaque, Syria.

The Dangerous Feminine: Female Monster, Assyrian Period, Iraq; Applique Mask of Medusa, Greek from South Italy; Kylix showing Herakles battling an Amazon, Greece; Kali, Hindu, Central India; Askos with Skylla, South Italy; Kali Standing on Shiva, Hindu, India; Adam and Eve by Andre Masson, French 20th c.

Female Sainthood: Mary Magdalene, 1519 by Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen, Netherlandish; The Repentant Magdalene by Gerard Edelinck, Flemish; St. Helena, ca. 1720, Czech, Bohemia, Johann Wenceslas Grauer? ;The Martyrdom of St. Catherine of Alexandria by Albrecht Durer, German, late 15th c.; St. Catherine of Alexandria by Leonard II Limousin, French.

Models of Knowledge and Power: Lekythos with Achilles, Ajax and the Goddess Athena, Greece; Female Bush Spirit from Ivory Coast, 19th c.; Seated Female, Mali, Dogon people, early 20th c.; Neith, After 650 BCE, Egyptian; Mahisha-ashura-mardini, Hindu, India; Nike or Victoria, Roman from Italy; Saraswati, Hindu, India; Tara, Buddhist, Nepal; Lakshmi, Hindu, India.

Devotees and Consorts: Jug in the form of an old woman holding a wine jug, perhaps a priestess of Dionysos, Turkey; Radha, consort of Krishna, Hindu, South India; A Kneeling Nun by Stefano Maria Legnani, Italian, 17th c.; Cassandra (lover of Apollo) by Max Klinger, German; The Sacrifice of Iphigenia by Gerard de Lairesse, Flemish; The Abduction of Prosperina by Johann Jakob Frey, Swiss.

Divine Queen: Marie de Medici; Cleopatra; Arsinoe, Greek, Hellenistic.

Cult of the Virgin: Diana and Endymion by Francesco Furini, Italian; Apollo and Daphne by Giuseppe Diamantini, Italian; The Vestal Tuccia Carrying Water in a Sieve, print after a painting by Hector Leroux; The Assumption of the Virgin Madonna and Child by Rockwell Kent, 1922; Rococo marble Head of the Virgin by Guiseppe Mazza; Athena Scorning the Advances of Hephaestus, Paris Bordone, 1550's; The Annunciation, after 1570's Francesco Segala, Italian.

Contemporary Interpretations:The Annunciation; Venus images; Galatea, lover of Acis; Saint Clare of Assisi.

You can see pics of the Hildegard concert with Goddess banners via this Facebook page (you'll have to log in).

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