Philly museums greet the pope with rich cultural showings

In case you missed the news, Pope Francis and hundreds of thousands of his friends are coming to town. Even if you want no part of Parkway throngs, you can still celebrate: Get thee to a museum.

Several local museums have planned exhibits and events around Francis’s historic visit, September 26 and 27, and the World Meeting of Families, September 22 to 25. Most are on view now and will remain so after the papal visit.

Turtles and spiders and ‘Vatican Splendors’

The Academy of Natural Sciences presents The Clergy and the Academy’s Collections in its Library Gallery through October 30, focusing on clerical naturalists. Included are specimens, documents, and volumes from famous men, such as Lutheran minister Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, who discovered the bog turtle; Presbyterian minister Henry Christopher McCook, a spider collector who served as vice president of the Academy; and Brother Nicéforo María Antoine Rouhaire, who discovered more than 100 species.

The Franklin Institute hosts Vatican Splendors September 19 to February 15, 2016. Two millennia of Vatican influence are represented by 200 objects displayed in galleries designed to transport visitors to Rome. From tools used in the Sistine Chapel to artwork by Michelangelo to venerated bone fragments of Saints Peter and Paul, viewers will be surrounded by the sights and sounds of the Eternal City as they explore the catacombs or step into the papal apartments. Philadelphia is one of only two North American cities to host the exhibition of mosaics, frescoes, paintings, vestments, maps, artifacts, and documents, many of which have not been seen by visitors to the Vatican.

Rare books and religious liberty

The rare book department of the Free Library of Philadelphia is mounting Sacred Stories: The World’s Religious Traditions through January 30, 2016. Printed, handwritten, and illuminated texts exploring traditions shared by Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism are displayed at Parkway Central Library. The free show includes the first Bible printed in North America and translated into the Algonquin language Massachusett; Martin Luther’s first German New Testament, printed in Wittenburg in 1522; and the first English translation of the Quran (Koran), printed in London in 1649.

Head to the National Constitution Center for Religious Liberty and the Founding of America through January 3, 2016. Religion’s role in shaping the nation is explored through themes of Religious Liberty in Colonial America, Religious Liberty and the Constitution, and the Legacy of Religious Liberty. Documents on display include George Washington’s first Thanksgiving proclamation (1789), his letters to Roman Catholics in America (1790) and the Hebrew congregation in Newport (1790), and a letter from Thomas Jefferson to Connecticut Baptists (1802). From September 22-27, the Constitution Center will also offer World Meeting of Families activities and crafts, quizzes and games, dress-up stations, and museum tours, in addition to offering reduced admission prices.

The Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia offers Catholics in the New World through January 31, 2016. Catholic texts were printed in the Americas more than 65 years before the Jamestown settlement, and several are on display here, including the Doctrina Breve, the oldest surviving book published in the Western hemisphere, printed in Mexico City in 1544; Doctrina Christiana, the oldest book published in South America, printed in Lima in 1584; and Native American translations of prayer books and catechisms.

Visions of Noah; faith in fine art

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is featuring Sacred Writings: Extraordinary Texts of the Biblical World through November 8. This exhibit, a joint effort of Penn’s museum and libraries, consists of rare artifacts, books, and manuscripts set amid galleries displaying the culture of peoples and lands connected to the Bible, including Egypt, Canaan, and ancient Israel. Comparison of displayed writings reveals common threads. For example, a 3,600-year-old Sumerian tablet bears the earliest version of the Mesopotamian flood story, paralleling the story of Noah, while two folios from an illuminated Quran, copied 850 years ago, specifically describe Surah Nuh (Noah) and the flood.

Woodmere Art Museum joins in with fine art, offering Woodmere Welcomes Pope Francis: Biblical Art from the Permanent Collection through October 18. Drawing from its holdings, Chestnut Hill’s Woodmere traces how its family of artists have illustrated scripture, expressed faith, and used religious themes to comment on contemporary issues. According to Rick Ortwein, Woodmere deputy exhibitions director and curator for the exhibit, “I wanted the exhibit to be reverent but not boring…to show a range of styles and stay within the context…to show artists…integral to the history of Woodmere’s collection.”

If you plan to visit during the World Meeting, be aware that museum hours are being adjusted as papal events are announced. Check participating institutions’ websites for the latest information. The World Meeting’s Go Philadelphia! app is also available for free to make it easy to access maps, check event and travel details, find answers to frequently asked questions, receive emergency information, and follow real-time translation and captioning of the papal mass on September 27.