The Bellarmine Museum Venue
Imagine a space steeped in history and tradition. That place is Bellarmine Hall, Fairfield University's signature building on campus and the new home for the institution's growing art collections.
Custom designed for Walter B. Lashar in 1921, Bellarmine Hall reflects the Tudor manor homes that the building's founding patron enjoyed on his extensive tours of England in the early 20th century. The Jesuits purchased this handsome structure from the town of Fairfield in 1942 to serve as a foundational building for Fairfield University. Under the guidance of Centerbrook Architect and Planners, the lower level of the building is being repurposed to serve as a place where Fairfield's commitment to excellence in education, the arts, and the Ignatian tradition can be explored and cultivated.
Imagine a space that not only showcases and protects significant art objects, but also accommodates ancillary educational activities and a small but dedicated staff.
When completed, the new museum in Bellarmine Hall will boast three principal galleries, in addition to a cast corridor, an office for the director, a seminar classroom, workspaces, and storage areas.
The museum's central gallery, which evokes an early Christian basilica in plan, will feature art from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. Complementing this display will be the University's collection of Non-Western art from Asia, Africa, and the Americas as well as a selection of plaster casts after Greco-Roman antiquities, all of which will be arranged in two smaller side galleries.
About St. Robert Bellarmine (Italian: 1542-1601)Excerpted from the Jesuit Family Album: Sketches of Chivalry from the Early Society (Clavius Group, 1997) by Joseph F. MacDonnell, S.J.: "Robert was a Cardinal and Doctor of the Universal Church and one of the most learned men of his time. His books were such a powerful vindication of the Catholic Church that Queen Elizabeth forbade her subjects from selling them under pain of death. A very popular orator, he could memorize an hour-long Latin sermon by reading it over once. He had the ability to simplify the great truths of theology and put them within range of ordinary people. He confronted the Protestant Reformers and justified the right of the Catholic Church to confront moral issues and to help guide and correct the temporal order. Over Robert's protests the Pope made him a Cardinal "because he was without equal for learning in the Church of God." From this new vantage point he then set about to root out the abuses inside the Catholic Church which gave the Reformers grounds for their criticisms and presented to Pope Clement VIII a denunciation of the major abuses prevalent in the Pope's own Roman Curia. He pointed out that the Pope was not the Church's overlord but its administrator. Only Pope Sixtus V's death prevented Robert's writings from appearing on the index of forbidden books because Robert opposed the Pope's theory of direct papal power over civil authority. Galileo invited Robert to see the new-found wonders of the sky in his telescope and later Robert turned to Jesuit scientists to confirm Galileo's findings. This resulted in Robert's gentle treatment of Galileo at his famous trial - which leniency did not please the Holy Office. Robert, however, was not to be intimidated by anyone either outside or inside the Church." |