The St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art is a museum of
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. It has been described as the only public museum in the world devoted solely to this subject, although other notable museums of this kind are the
State Museum of the History of Religion
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* The State (newspaper), ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, U ...
in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and the
Catharijneconvent in
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
.
Construction and history
The museum is located in
Cathedral Square, on the lands of
Glasgow Cathedral
Glasgow Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Ghlaschu) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and the oldest building in Glasgow. The cathedral was the seat of the Archbishop ...
at Castle Street. It was constructed in 1989 on the site of
a medieval castle-complex, the former residence of the bishops of Glasgow, parts of which can be seen inside the Cathedral and at the
People's Palace, Glasgow
The People's Palace and Winter Gardens in Glasgow, Scotland, is a museum and glasshouse situated in Glasgow Green, and was opened on 22 January 1898 by The 5th Earl of Rosebery.
Early history
The idea of "palaces for the people" drew on the wr ...
. The museum building emulates the Scottish Baronial architectural style used for the former bishop's castle.
The museum opened in 1993.
Nearby are the
Provand's Lordship
The Provand's Lordship of Glasgow, Scotland, is a medieval historic house museum located at the top of Castle Street within sight of the Glasgow Cathedral and Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and next to the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art.
...
(Glasgow's oldest house), the
Glasgow Royal Infirmary
The Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) is a large teaching hospital. With a capacity of around 1,000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around , and straddles the Townhead and Dennistoun districts on the north-eastern fringe of the city cen ...
, and
Glasgow Necropolis
The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of Glasgow Cathedral (St. Mungo's Cathedral). Fifty thousand individuals have been buried here. Typical for the period, only ...
.
Collection
The museum houses exhibits relating to all the world's major religions, including a
Zen garden
The or Japanese rock garden, often called a zen garden, is a distinctive style of Japanese garden. It creates a miniature stylized landscape through carefully composed arrangements of rocks, water features, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and u ...
and a sculpture showing
Islamic calligraphy
Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy, in the languages which use Arabic alphabet or the alphabets derived from it. It includes Arabic, Persian, Ottoman, and Urdu calligraphy.Chapman, Caroline (2012). '' ...
. It housed
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...
’s painting ''
Christ of Saint John of the Cross
''Christ of Saint John of the Cross'' is a painting by Salvador Dalí made in 1951 which is in the collection of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow. It depicts Jesus Christ on the cross in a darkened sky floating over a body of wate ...
'' from its opening in 1993 until the reopening of
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, h ...
in 2006.
St. Mungo Museum
Gallery
stainedglassglasgow.JPG, Stained glass
Museum sv Munga Shivu.jpg, Sculpture of Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art - geograph.org.uk - 852400.jpg, The museum from Cathedral Square
St. Mungo Museum of Religious.jpg, The rear of the museum
St. Mungo's Museum and Provand's Lordship, Glasgow - geograph.org.uk - 1365844.jpg, The museum and Provand's Lordship
Zen Garden - geograph.org.uk - 1280842.jpg, The Zen garden
References
External links
Museum website
mdash;History and original drawings of the Cathedral area.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art
Christianity in Glasgow
Art museums and galleries in Glasgow
Art museums established in 1993
Religious museums in Scotland
1993 establishments in Scotland