Perhaps despite the sacrilegious nature of taking these things outside of the Church, we can also think of it as bringing the pagans closer to God. Perhaps the Met will unwillingly and unwittingly inspire the Fra Angelico’s of the next generation.

I completely agree with the strangeness of seeing such paintings and other artworks outside of their proper context and have often felt agitated by this. I remember seeing several gorgeous frescos at the Cleveland museum which had been removed from the cells of a friary. There was one painting of the Crucifixions before which I wanted so much to pray, but I felt rather embarrassed. Then I felt embarrassed that I felt embarrassed for wanting to pray, and so I did say a short prayer there on my knees before it.

One cannot help but wonder how the people at such shows react to such paintings, especially those of the Blessed Mother. It seems such a shame, because anyone with any sensitivity towards her at all cannot help but feel the warm glow of her maternal love for all Christians.

Displaying the paintings out of their ‘home’ obscures their purpose (to give glory to God) and highlights aspects of lesser importance (their artistic value, technique and historical context).

Kind of like listening to the Mass for the Immaculate Conception on the Feast of the Holy Innocents, and for the enjoyment of the style, competence and harmoniousness.

The Samizdata blog’s post Bach and God shows a reaction of someone who only ‘knew’ (intellectually) the religious context of Bach’s works.

People might also be interested in this article about Bl. Fra Angelico at Seattle Catholic