The Gallery of the College of Staten Island /CUNY is happy to announce the first exhibition of the Fall 2012 semester: Expanding Frames of Reference: Art, Science, and Religion in the Physica Sacra by Johann Jakob Scheuchzer.
This remarkable exhibit displays a selection of the over 750 illustrations from the Physica Sacra (1731-1735) by the Swiss scientist Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, which explores the relationship between the Bible, scientific knowlege, and history in text and image. Natural science, astronomy, anatomy, ancient history, and mythology, to name a few, are grist for Scheuchzer’s mill in this encyclopedic four-volume work that is known not least of all for its amazing illusionistic illustrations and their fictive frames. Throughout, selections from the Bible are invoked as organizational points for the explication of the most cutting-edge state of human knowledge in Scheuchzer’s day. The show runs from Wednesday, Sept. 19 to Tuesday, Oct. 23. Please join us for some light fare at our opening on Wednesday Sept. 19. from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.
