Join curator Xavier F. Salomon for a private view of the groundbreaking exhibition To the Holy Sepulcher: Treasures from the Terra Sancta Museum, presenting more than forty rare objects from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Largely unknown to the public until their recent rediscovery, the opulent works range from liturgical objects in gem-encrusted gold and silver to richly decorated vestments in velvet, damask, and other luxurious materials. These treasures were donated by European Catholic monarchs and Holy Roman Emperors in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to the church in Jerusalem, the religious center of the Christian faith, and have been safeguarded and used ever since by the Franciscan friars who maintain the site. The works represent the pinnacle of European goldsmithing and textile design of the era, much of which has otherwise been lost or severely damaged. Among them are masterpieces of Venetian silversmith work that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Before the opening of the new Terra Sancta Museum in the next few years, these items from its holdings are traveling to several institutions in Europe and North America, including the Frick—the exhibition’s first venue in the United States.

Led by Dr. Xavier F. Salomon, Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator 

Xavier F. Salomon is a noted scholar of Paolo Veronese and curated the monographic exhibition on the artist at the National Gallery, London (March–June 2014). Starting in November, he will be the Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, Portugal. He is currently working on a monograph on Rosalba Carriera. Previously, he was Curator in the Department of European Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Arturo and Holly Melosi Chief Curator at Dulwich Picture Gallery. He has curated Veronese in Murano: Two Venetian Renaissance Masterpieces Restored (2017–18), Murillo: The Self- Portraits (2017–18), Canova’s George Washington (2018), and Nicolas Party and Rosalba Carriera (2023). Xavier serves as a member of the Projects Committee on the Board of Directors of Save Venice.

*Fellow ($1,000)+ Benefit: Join or Renew

*Please note this event has limited in-person capacity and will be offered to qualifying supporters on a first-come basis. 

Image: Antonio de Laurentiis, Throne of Eucharistic Exposition, 1754. Gold, gilt copper, almandine garnets, amethysts, rock crystal, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, carnelians, peridots, smoky quartzes, glass and doublets, h. 68 3/4 in. (174.5 cm); w. 32 1/4 in. (82 cm); depth 15 3/8 in. (39 cm). Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem (CTS-OA-25392); ©The Frick Collection