Welcome to the Virtual Exhibition Society and Religion Through the Ages! We are delighted to have you visiting and hope to give you a unique experience. In this exhibition, we aim to illustrate the theme of secularization, which is the historical process in which religion declines in social and cultural significance. Over time, going from antiquity to the middle ages, to modern and finally the postmodern age, it has been noted that society has shifted from placing importance on religion, to instead placing significance on the arts and sciences. Our exhibition portrays this trajectory from religion to the arts and sciences by exploring the following objects from the UCL collections and other museums: a 600 BC Mesopotamian Mudbrick, a copy of the “Universal Man” by Hildegard von Bingen made in 1165, the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci made in 1487, an engraving of Jesus known as Sudarium of St. Veronica by Claude Mellan in 1649, a Blaschka Glass Model of the Comb-finned Squid made in the 1860s, an etching depicting Mendeleev made in 1900, and last but not least, a Piltdown Man Skull and Mandible Cast, discovered in 1912.

The exhibition is aimed at university students and the general public that have a natural interest in historic objects, what they mean, and how they have transgressed through time. The exhibition is not aimed at children since the content requires a certain level of understanding about general concepts.

Furthermore, an ethical issue should be acknowledged. The theme of secularization can be a sensitive topic, and should be reinforced that this exhibition does not wish to push our audience in any particular direction. We are not making a statement to abandon religion for the modern sciences and art, or vice versa. Instead, we aim to show and delineate a trajectory from religion towards the sciences and arts that can be seen in history itself. Indeed, you will see that religion and the arts and sciences can be seen as complementary to one another. This is why we chose to portray our exhibition is a timeline, which illustrates a continuous flow from past to present (further instructions on how to navigate the exhibition are outlined below). This timeline will hopefully take you on a journey and illustrate the theme of secularisation, instead of creating a dichotomy between religion and the arts and sciences. We aim to bridge the link between these two via our timeline and the objects illustrated.

We hope you enjoy the exhibition!

Shivani Ahuja - Piltdown Man label, construction of MyPortfolio Exhibition
Paul Guermond - Mendeleev Etching  label, introduction, conclusion
Agathe Labadie - Mudbrick label, Universal Man label, acknowledgments, PowerPoint presentation
Fareeha Siddique - Comb-Finned Squid label, Vitruvian man label, introduction, navigation video
Cheryl Yeap - Sudarium label, timeline video, navigation video

N.B. All contributors assisted in the editing and and planning of all parts of this exhibition, in addition to their listed focus areas.