'Icons From Sinai' offers insights into ancient Christian monastery

Published: 2007-01-18

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Holy images of saints, Jesus and Mary are greatly intertwined with the life of the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai, Egypt. The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles is showing a collection of those images in an exhibition, "Holy Images, Hallowed Ground: Icons From Sinai." The exhibit, which is open until March 4, features 43 of the ancient monastery's historic icons, along with five manuscripts and several liturgical objects. A re-creation of some parts of the monastery, including its basilica, gives visitors a better understanding of where these priceless artifacts came from. A 10-minute documentary film also gives visitors scenes of the ancient site, a glimpse of an Orthodox Easter service and interviews. Situated at the foot of Mount Sinai, where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments, St. Catherine's is the oldest functioning Christian monastery in the world. The monastic community dates back to the third century and the present church and monastery were commissioned in the sixth century by Byzantine Emperor Justinian.

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