Greek Exhibit Moves Heaven and Earth

WASHINGTON ? After arriving with no particular buzz, then being kept on ice by the government shutdown, Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium From Greek Collections has finally opened at the National Gallery of Art here, and it?s ambushingly resplendent, like a somber cloud with a fire inside. With around 170 objects ? icons, mosaics, frescoes, jewelry and embroideries, illuminated books ? all on loan, the show takes a processional sweep through Byzantine art from its Greco-Roman beginnings to its multicultural late phase in the 15th Century, with an emphasis on its development in Greece itself. Like many government-sponsored treasure shows, this one ? organized by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports in Athens, in collaboration with the Benaki Museum there ? has a promotional angle: It would love to get us to go to Greece and spend some tourist dollars, especially given that country?s recent fiscal woes.

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