PAFA docents recently had a chance to take a tour of Faith and Family. Inspired by the World Meeting of Families 2015 and the historic visit of Pope Francis to Philadelphia, Faith and Family is PAFA's first online Collections Focus, and these works are currently on view in the Historic Landmark Building and the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building as well. 

Anna Marley, PAFA's Curator of Historical American Art who co-curated Faith and Family along with Robert Cozzolino and Jodi Throckmorton, led the tour for docents, highlighting the range of paintings, sculptures and stained-glass windows that were selected for this Collections Focus, as well as the subject matter depicted.    

Marley noted the numerous religious references in Heirloom, by Karl Anderson, including a mother and daughter holding an exquisite lace cloth that could be a mantilla in the foreground, while in the background daffodils and a saint's altarpiece appear. 

Henry O. Tanner's bust Benjamin Tucker Tanner depicts the artist's father, who was also a bishop in the American Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia the 1880s and 1890s. While Tanner, a legendary PAFA alumnus, created the original plaster cast in 1894, the sculpture on view was created from a 2014 bronze pour conducted by current PAFA faculty member Kate Brockman. A gift from Tanner's family, Benjamin Tucker Tanner is on view at PAFA for the first time.

A detail from The Wise and Foolish Virgins, by Violet Oakley, who also studied and taught at PAFA. Marley said that Oakley originally created these stained-glass lancet windows for St. Peter's Church in Germantown. Like the Historic Landmark Building, the church was also designed by Frank Furness and George Hewitt.

A detail from Saint Cornelius and the Angel, stained-glass lancet windows designed by Tiffany Studios that were also made for St. Peter's Church. Marley noted that St. Cornelius was an early Christian pope.

Faith and Family can be viewed both online and in the galleries. While a docent's tour is the perfect way to view this Collections Focus, the online tour also guides visitors through the museum.

Written by ZP Heller

September 24, 2015

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