Weekdays by appointment | Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:30 pm

Admission: Donations welcome.

Most religions include a belief in the human soul, but religious artists have struggled for millennia with the problem of how to represent the soul visually. Join us in exploring six objects from Glencairn’s permanent collection dating from ancient Egypt to nineteenth-century England, including several sculptures depicting the struggle waged by the forces of good and evil to control the human soul. Visitors to this exhibit are invited to share their own answers to the ancient question, "What does the soul look like?"

Visitors to Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn can learn how Christians around the world have adapted the Nativity scene to represent their own cultures through a new exhibit featuring more than 30 crèches from 20 countries.

“Follow the Star: The Tradition of the Crèche,” which features Nativity sets from five continents, will make its debut from 1 to 5 p.m. Dec. 6  as part of Glencairn’s “Glad Tidings: A Celebration of Christmas.” The crèches will continue to be on exhibit daily through Saturday, Dec. 12, and from 10 to 3 on December 17, 18, 21-23, and 28-30. The exhibit's last day is Saturday, January 2.
The three-dimensional Nativities, displayed at various locations throughout Glencairn, complement the museum’s collection of Nativity art dating from medieval times through the early 20th century. Glencairn plans to display the crèches each Christmas.

“We are collecting from a broad variety of countries to illustrate how Christians around the world have adapted the tradition of the crèche to their own national, regional and local cultures,” said Museum Curator Ed Gyllenhaal. “Almost all of our sets are made from local materials, and they exhibit regionally distinctive clothing, animals and structures.”

The Glencairn collection includes crèches made in countries traditionally associated with production of Nativity sets, such as Germany, Italy, Poland and Latin America. It also includes some made in countries typically not associated with crèches, such as Laos, Nepal, Egypt and Ethiopia.

Gyllenhaal’s favorite?

“I’m fascinated by the dozens of ceramic fèves from France,” he said. “For more than a hundred years, a small ceramic figure called a fève has been secretly placed in the ‘Kings’ Cake’ on Epiphany, a holiday celebrated to commemorate the arrival of the wise men (“three kings”) at Bethlehem. The lucky one who gets the fève in his or her slice is pronounced king or queen for the day and gets to wear a paper crown.”

Gyllenhaal said the fève originally represented one of the Nativity’s central figures of baby Jesus, Mary or Joseph. As time went on, however, all the characters in a typical French village were made to be included in the scene. “Everyone from the mayor to the fishmonger turns out for the Christmas miracle,” he said.

Weekdays by appointment | Saturdays from 11:00 am to 2:30 pm

Members’ Preview: Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 20

Admission: Donations Welcome

The rich colors and exquisite composition of the stained glass windows made for Bryn Athyn Cathedral and Glencairn beginning in the 1920s have been inspiring worshipers and other visitors for decades. This exhibition tells the story of the dedicated group of artists and craftsmen who set out to recreate the splendor of the stained glass made for Gothic cathedrals by reviving the lost techniques of the medieval glassmakers.

Weekdays by appointment | Saturdays from 11:00am to 2:30pm

Admission: Donations Welcome

Adapted from Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s “Eastern Religions Come to Western Pennsylvania,” this exhibit focuses on Hindu practices. Pennsylvania has welcomed religious diversity ever since its founding under William Penn. Such pluralism did not expand beyond the Christian and Jewish communities, however, until quite recently. The objects in this exhibit illuminate Hinduism, and ancient faith still flourishing around the world today.

Weekdays by appointment | Saturdays from 11:00 am to 2:30 pm

Admission: Donations Welcome

Adapted from Indiana University of Pennsylvania's "Eastern Religions Come to Western Pennsylvania," this exhibit focuses on Buddhist practices. Pennsylvania has welcomed religious diveryisty ever since its founding under William Penn. Such pluralism did not expand beyond the Christian and Jewish communities, however, until quite recently. The objects in this exhibit illuminate Buddhism, an ancient faith still floushing around the world today.

Weekdays by appointment | Saturdays from 11:00 am to 2:30 pm

Admission: Donations Welcome

The exhibit, "In Company with Angels," including  seven remarkable angel windows by the Tiffany Studios (c. 1900) is coming to Glencairn Museum!