Mere Mortals?

Throughout the centuries religious fervor has been inspired by iconic images, from gods and spirits in paleolithic cave paintings to the endless renderings of saints found in Byzantine art. In the 70s, Andy Warhol identified stardom as the 20th century’s new form of religion, creating his own icons from silk-screened images of popular idols and thus shining a spotlight upon our own often-morbid fascination with fame. Key portraits from across Warhol’s career—including Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy and Mao—are being exhibited alongside the world’s greatest collection of Byzantine icons this fall at Athens’s Byzantine Museum.