HOUSTON, TX.- An Olmec vase, a Dogon Mother and Child, a rosary, crucifixes, a golden monstrance, a Shinto lord, a pilgrim’s flask from Palestine, a pre-Columbian trumpet: Drawing on various parts of the Menil’s diverse permanent collection, Objects of Devotion explores the role of art in religious practices in different times and places, East and West, across the millennia. Approximately 32 objects – ranging from the small-scale and personalized (a Byzantine ampulae; a ninth-century Mayan drinking vessel) to the architectural and sculptural (shrine figures and saints) – attest to the myriad roles objects play in establishing, reinforcing, and refining spiritual beliefs. In their past lives the works of art included in the exhibition performed varied functions, acting as representations of the divine or as conduits that provided access to it, regulating the proper comportment of religious practice and rituals