| Fresco dream Catholic priest works to bring Vatican treasures to High Plains 04/08/2001 By Scott Parks / The Dallas Morning News The Rev. Malcolm Neyland, pastor of two small Catholic churches in West Texas, went to Rome for the first time 13 years ago. He marveled at the treasure trove of historic artwork inside the world-famous Vatican Museums.
Mona Reeder / DMN
The Rev. Malcolm Neyland has spent much of the past 12 years navigating the Vatican bureaucracy in his effort to bring 12th and 13th century frescoes to the High Plains of Texas. The frescoes have not been on public display since they were removed from the early Roman churches of St. Agnese and St. Nicola.
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Almost immediately, an improbable dream swept over him. He would persuade the formidable Vatican bureaucracy to release some of the museum's riches and allow him to bring them to the High Plains of Texas for an exhibition in Lubbock.
In 1988, the museum's curators had never heard of Lubbock. Now, they can pinpoint it on a world map. At age 57, the crescendo that marks the high point of one's life is ringing in Father Malcolm's ears. Next spring, he and two Vatican curators will climb on an airplane in Rome and fly to Lubbock with 31 medieval frescoes originally painted onto church walls between 800 and 900 years ago.
A majority of the frescoes – the visual descendants of prehistoric cave paintings – depict the lives of saints and martyrs. In a time before the masses read books, they were designed to instruct and inspire Christians with the traditions of their faith.
"I've been motivated by a sincere and genuine desire that others could know the history that resides in that museum," Father Malcolm, as he is known in Lubbock, said recently.
The frescoes that will appear at the Texas Tech Museum have never been publicly displayed. When the 92-day exhibit comes to an end on Aug. 31, 2002, they will be shipped back to the Vatican.
"And I will go back and be a priest again who spends more time with his parish," Father Malcolm said.
Frescoes are not just paintings on a wall or ceiling. The artist applies paint to a special kind of plaster before it dries. Water-soluble pigments become a part of the hardened plaster.
The fresco process gives the paintings a durable, translucent finish that can last centuries. The world's most famous frescoes, painted by Michelangelo Buonarotti in the 16th century, adorn the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
Like the Sistine Chapel frescoes, the paintings destined for Lubbock have been cleaned and restored. Originally, some of them adorned the walls of the Basilica of St. Agnese, an early Roman Catholic church that has been a place of pilgrimage since the fourth century.
Frescoes from St. Agnese include depictions of St. Catherine, St. Benedict and St. Peter.
Another group in the exhibit comes from St. Nicola in Cercere, another early Roman church. This collection includes portraits of Old Testament prophets Amos, Moses, Jeremiah, Haggai and John the Baptist.
Some St. Nicola frescoes depict nonreligious icons such as dolphins, peacocks and herons.
In all cases, the artists who created them in the 12th and 13th centuries are unknown.
Eventually, the frescoes were removed from the church walls during renovations. They have been in storage at the Vatican since the 18th century.
Dr. John R. Clarke, an art historian on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin, said medieval frescoes such as those from St. Agnese and St. Nicola are rudimentary, flat depictions generally devoid of the three-dimensional, multi-colored paintings by Michelangelo, Botticelli and other Renaissance masters that came two or three centuries later.
It's a shame that the frescoes – unlike those that still decorate church walls – can no longer be viewed "in their original architectural context," said Dr. Clarke, a specialist in early European frescoes.
"This is a wonderful cultural and social event for Lubbock, and I salute their ability to raise the money and pull this off politically with the church," he said. "The Vatican is the richest museum in the world. They've got everything there. In that context, this [the frescoes] is small potatoes for them."
Renaissance man
Father Malcolm himself is a renaissance man of sorts – amateur paleontologist and anthropologist; holder of seven college degrees in theology, sociology, psychology and canon law.
As counselor and judicial vicar of the Diocese of Lubbock, he relishes saving marriages and regrets those that cannot be saved.
Currently, he pastors churches in Post and Wilson, two small towns near Lubbock. He chews up the West Texas asphalt in a red 1993 Buick Riviera with 167,000 miles on the odometer.
These days, he usually can be found at the offices of Vatican Exhibit 2002, the tax-exempt foundation founded to raise money for the fresco project.
Father Malcolm acknowledges that the exhibit will bring recognition to the Vatican and its museums in an area of Texas that's not exactly a Catholic stronghold.
"That's not what this is all about," he said. "I would use the word 'ecumenical' – moving beyond boundaries."
Giles McCrary, a Presbyterian rancher from Post, is an example of that ecumenism. He first met Father Malcolm 20 years ago when Mr. McCrary was the mayor of Post.
Over the years, their friendship deepened. Today, Mr. McCrary is one of Father Malcolm's most important benefactors and advisers. He reckons the fresco project has taken him to Rome a dozen times in the last 10 years.
The two clearly relish each other's friendship.
"I'm not a member of his clan [the Catholic church]," he said. "At first, he tried to sprinkle holy water in my drinks. Then, he tried to bless my ice cubes."
Father Malcolm, he said, is a master at navigating through the shallows and shoals of a 2,000-year-old Vatican bureaucracy.
"He is extremely pleasant and has a great sense of humor," Mr. McCrary said. "He knows exactly the time to scratch the right back and when to put his two cents worth in."
Mr. McCrary recalled the first time he saw the frescoes.
"My reaction was excitement and fascination to think about the age and the beauty of them," he said.
New World art
The exhibit will be called Traditions and Renewal: Medieval Frescoes from the Vatican Museums.
In addition to the pre-Columbian frescoes, the exhibit will feature New World tapestries, votive pieces and carvings from the Franz Mayer Museum in Mexico City. The Houston-based Blaffer Foundation, which loans its art collection, is expected to provide the exhibit with other religious-themed pieces depicting the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
"Our vision is that the church in Europe had a direct influence on arts in the New World," said Gary Edson, executive director of the Texas Tech Museum. "We want to depict the linkage between art controlled by the church and what was happening in the New World."
No one knows how many people might visit Lubbock to see the Vatican exhibit. Estimates range from an average of 1,000 to 5,000 a day. City boosters are hoping the show generates a lot of free publicity for Lubbock and Texas Tech, the city's crown jewel.
All because a tenacious, middle-aged parish priest doggedly pursued his own vision for more than a decade.
"I speak from the heart," Father Malcolm said. "I think this is a big thing we're doing here."
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