Charles Rufus Morey (20 November 1877 – 28 August 1955) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

art historian, professor, and chairman of the Department of Art and Archaeology at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

from 1924 to 1945. He had expertise in medieval art and founded the Index of Christian Art (now Index of Medieval Art) at Princeton University in 1917. He was one of the founders of the

College Art Association The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their underst ...

Biography

Born in

Hastings, Michigan Hastings is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, the county seat of Barry County as well as the county's only city. The population was 7,350 at the 2010 census. The city borders Hastings Charter Township on the north, east, and south, and ...

in 1877, Morey graduated from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1899. After receiving a master's degree there in Classics he went on to study for three years at the American School of Classical Studies in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, publishing his first article, "The Christian Sarcophagus in S. Maria Antiqua" in 1905. Morey became an instructor in classics at

in 1903, but on a colleague's request, namely

Allan Marquand Allan Marquand (; December 10, 1853 – September 24, 1924) was an art historian at Princeton University and a curator of the Princeton University Art Museum. Early life Marquand was born on December 10, 1853 in New York City. He was a son of ...

, he switched to the Department of Art and Archaeology, in which he began a career of 39 years in art history. Upon Marquand's death in 1924, Morey assumed his position as chairman of this department at Princeton University. Medieval iconography was a major topic of interest to Morey, leading him to draw up an image collection in 1917 of late antique, early Christian-era, and medieval works of art, a collection which would blossom into a cataloged collection of photographs known as the Index of Christian Art. Considered to be "indebted to photography", Morey's stance on the process of iconographic analysis has been attributed by scholars as contributing substantially to the formulation of

Erwin Panofsky Erwin Panofsky (March 30, 1892 in Hannover – March 14, 1968 in Princeton, New Jersey) was a German-Jewish art historian, whose academic career was pursued mostly in the U.S. after the rise of the Nazi regime. Panofsky's work represents a hig ...

’s methodology of subject analysis. In 1929 Morey began cataloging the collection of the Museo Cristiano, part of the

Vatican library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

. During his lifetime, Morey made many trips back and forth to Rome to develop collections in the Vatican and established the

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

archaeological excavation of Daphne. Morey was noted for his work in helping establish various libraries and indexing image systems. In 1932, he published a pamphlet on scholarly library planning, named the "Laboratory-Library,". In 1938, Morey was named Marquand Chair of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University. Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Morey resigned at Princeton and held the first appointment of Cultural Attaché to the American Embassy in Rome. Morey was the acting director of the American Academy from 1945-1947. Morey also helped establish the

in 1911 and its primary publication, ''The Art Bulletin''.

Publications

During his career as an art historian, Morey published many notable papers and manuscripts related to early and medieval Christian art. These include ''East Christian paintings in the Freer collection'' (1914), ''Lost mosaics and frescoes of Rome of the mediaeval period'' (1915), ''The American society for the excavation of Sardis'' (1924), ''Roman and Christian sculpture '' (1924), ''Studies in the late antique undertaken in the School of Classical Studies of the American Academy of Rome, 1925-1926.'' (1927), ''The Gospel book of Landevennec (the Harkness Gospels) in the New York Public Library '' (1931), ''Christian art '' (1935), ''The mosaics of Antioch '' (1938), ''Early Christian art '' (1942), ''Mediaeval art'' (1942), ''Christian art '' (1958), ''The gold-glass collection of the Vatican Library'' (1959).

Death and legacy

He died in 1955 in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

. German-Jewish art historian Erwin Panofsky said of Morey; "No one can number those who . . . owed to him their place in the world, their scale of values, their sense of direction in life. No one who knew him can forget the brief, warm smile that could suddenly illumine his strong, often stern-looking face and give confidence to the timid and courage to the troubled."(M. Stohlman, A Princeton Companion, 1978, s.v
Morey, Charles Rufus
The Charles Rufus Morey Book Award was established in honor of Morey's name by the College Art Association. This award honors distinguished literature in the history of art annually September 1 to August 31.

References

External links

Index of Medieval Art at Princeton UniversityCharles Rufus Morey Papers, 1900-1954, Princeton University Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morey, Charles American art historians 1877 births 1955 deaths Princeton University faculty University of Michigan alumni People from Hastings, Michigan Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Historians from Michigan