Charles Rufus Morey

Charles Rufus Morey (November 20, 1877 – August 28, 1955) was an American art historian, professor, and chairman of the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University from 1924 to 1945. He had expertise in medieval art and founded the Index of Christian Art (now the Index of Medieval Art) at Princeton University in 1917. He was one of the founders of the College Art Association.

Biography Born in Hastings, Michigan, in 1877, Morey graduated from the University of Michigan in 1899. After receiving a master's degree there in Classics he went on to study for three years at the American School of Classical Studies in Rome, publishing his first article, "The Christian Sarcophagus in S. Maria Antiqua" in 1905.

Morey became an instructor in classics at Princeton University in 1903, but on a colleague's request, namely Allan Marquand, he switched to the Department of Art and Archaeology, in which he began a career of 39 years in art history. In 1929 Morey began cataloging the collection of the Museo Cristiano, part of the Vatican Library. During his lifetime, Morey made many trips back and forth to Rome to develop collections in the Vatican and established the Antioch archaeological excavation of Daphne.

Publications Morey was noted for his cataloging of medieval Christian art. Display in the Vatican Library shown.

During his career as an art historian, Morey published many notable papers and manuscripts related to early and medieval Christian art. These include East Christian paintings in the Freer collection (1914), Lost mosaics and frescoes of Rome of the mediaeval period (1915), The American society for the excavation of Sardis (1924), Roman and Christian sculpture (1924), Studies in the late antique undertaken in the School of Classical Studies of the American Academy of Rome, 1925-1926. (1927), The Gospel book of Landevennec (the Harkness Gospels) in the New York Public Library (1931), Christian art (1935), The mosaics of Antioch (1938), Early Christian art (1942), Mediaeval art (1942), Christian art (1958), The gold-glass collection of the Vatican Library (1959).

Death and legacy He died in 1955 in Princeton, New Jersey. German-Jewish art historian Erwin Panofsky said of Morey; "No one can number those who . . . owed to him their place in the world, their scale of values, their sense of direction in life. No one who knew him can forget the brief, warm smile that could suddenly illumine his strong, often stern-looking face and give confidence to the timid and courage to the troubled."(M. Stohlman, A Princeton Companion, 1978, s.v. Morey, Charles Rufus)

The Charles Rufus Morey Book Award was established in honor of Morey's name by the College Art Association. This award honors distinguished literature in the history of art annually September 1 to August 31.