Exhibits of faith at the Wardlaw
Good afternoon,
St Andrews is abuzz with the sounds of kids enjoying the Lammas Fair – on waltzers, merry-go-rounds and flying machines. But there are more gentle pleasures for the visitor, such as the newly extended, remodelled and re-opened University Museum, called the Wardlaw Museum after Bishop Wardlaw, the University’s founder. I went there last week with a guest and thoroughly enjoyed the permanent exhibition, covering the University’s history and traditions, things used in teaching, key historical figures, and the wonderful, sometimes curious things brought back by anthropologists, or donated to the collections. See https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/museums/visit-us/wardlaw/
For those interested in the expression of faith, there were some terrific exhibits, from the statue of St Andrew outside to a cast of the skull of Pope Benedict XIII, who granted permission for the University to be founded; from the painting of the assassination of Archbishop Sharp in 1679 to a terracotta church made in Quinua in Peru; from the head of Buddha made by David Mach with matchsticks to stained glass windows no longer in St Salvator’s Chapel.
Below is one image from the museum of a set of seven paintings in glass of Hindu deities from Thanjavur in India made in the mid to late 1800s set around a stone carving of Shiva and Parvati, made in Bengal a thousand years ago.
The second image is a stone carving of the Annunciation (the visit by the angel Gabriel to Mary to tell her she would bear the Son of God). This was in St Salvator’s Chapel before the Reformation, but, like almost all decoration, was removed. In this case, the figures have had their heads removed, probably in an act of deliberate destruction common in the Reformation.
St Salvator’s Chapel is today an ecumenical space for worship, prayer and reflection, again beautiful with decoration in wooden carvings, stained glass, stone and mosaics. The Wardlaw Museum helps us understand something of the convictions of people before us, and the inheritance we have received. I hope that this year, the work of the Chaplaincy will not only reflect on the Annunciation, but encourage ecumenical friendship, and interfaith understanding.
Yours,
Donald.
Revd Dr Donald MacEwan
Chaplain