Gallery Talk on “The Dominican Order at Bologna: An Unbroken Tradition”

In the early afternoon of Sunday, January 9, as many as 71 people visited the Frist Art Museum of Nashville, Tennessee in order to attend a Gallery Talk by the title ‘The Dominican Order at Bologna: An Unbroken Tradition.’ This event was guided by Sister Caterina Joy, O.P. and hosted by the extraordinary exhibition dedicated to Medieval Bologna, open November 5, 2021 to January 30, 2022. A native of Bologna, Sister completed her undergraduate studies in Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Bologna. As a Dominican Sister of St. Cecilia, she was able to offer an insider’s perspective about the pivotal presence of the Dominican Order in Bologna from medieval times to the present.

Overall, Sister Caterina Joy shared insights into the Dominican life of prayer and preaching, with an emphasis on liturgical celebration and devotions. Most notably, she sought to provide both background knowledge and personal experience to help a remarkably diverse crowd understand and appreciate the beauty and purpose of seven selected manuscripts and artworks featured in this unique exhibit. Sister greatly enjoyed this opportunity to introduce the wider public to the treasures of her home town, and she especially delighted in sharing the splendor of the faith with Catholics and non-Catholics alike. As she emphasized in her presentation, the Dominican tradition is not a thing of the past, but rather a tradition still lived out boldly by the whole Dominican family.