In this Jesuit podcast, Dr. Jan Graffius, the curator of collections at Stonyhurst College in the UK – the oldest surviving Jesuit school in the world – guides us through a riveting history that traces the rise and fall of the Catholic Church in England through the lens of a single piece of art: a cope commissioned by Henry VII (there is also a video - see below).

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What is a cope?

Copes are common liturgical vestments. But this one – one of the most expensive items commissioned by a king – was meant to unite the power of Church and State to strengthen a dubious claim to the throne but ultimately became a symbol of Catholic resistance and was smuggled out of the country. This cope and the stories that surround it remind us of the power of art to point to both spiritual and temporal power – and the dangers therein. You can see this cope and more as it travels across the United States in the exhibition, “The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England.”

Exhibition dates:

• New York: 3 October 2022 – 8 January 2023
• Cleveland: 21 February 2023 – 14 May 2023
• San Francisco: 26 June 2023 – 24 September 2023

Learn more:

• The Met: www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2022/tudors
• The Cleveland Museum of Art: www.clevelandart.org/exhibitions/tu…ssance-england
• About Stonyhurst: www.stonyhurst.ac.uk/about-us/stony…ons/contact-us

Photo credit: Stonyhurst College and British Jesuit Province /© Historic Royal Palaces

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