Strata: Where’s the Manna?

A new art exhibit titled Manna: Masterworks from the Tufts University Permanent Art Collection includes no manna—or even a depiction of manna. As a matter of fact, the only piece with a Biblical theme at all in the exhibit at Tufts University in Massachusetts is Albrecht Dürer’s woodcut The Flight into Egypt, which depicts Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus escaping to Egypt to flee King Herod’s massacre, as recounted in Matthew 2:13–15. Dating to 1511, the woodcut is one of 19 from the series The Life of the Virgin.

Dr. Amy I. Schlegel, director of galleries and collections at Tufts University, explains the exhibit’s title: “Gifts of art to an educational institution are indeed manna; they are a form of ‘nourishment’ to be shared, studied and appreciated by the extended University community.” Curator of the exhibit, Dr. Schlegel has selected important pieces from the university’s permanent collection of more than 2,000 objects from the past 3,000 years—from Aztec stone figurines to photographs of current events.

Even without manna, the exhibit showcases quite the gamut of art.