AN UNLIKELY apparition on University Avenue at Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City is the PJ Lhuillier Museum, which appears nondescript yet holds untold treasures.

The structure looks like a small brown Antillean house of wood, stone and wrought iron ensconced on a green, green lawn and half-hidden by the verdure of bushes and trees.

This is a concept museum housing some 1,000 pieces, nearly 100 of them paintings?part of Ambassador to Italy Philippe J. Lhuillier?s collection he started in the 1960s.

In building it, Lhuillier says he was guided by ?the conviction that Church art is a vital social force that extends beyond the art world and into the broader culture.?

It was first intended for storage of his accumulation of 40 years, including religious prints and paintings, icons, ivory pieces, metalworks, woodcarvings, polychrome statues, sacred vessels, reliquaries, liturgical vestments.

The exhibition is divided into three themes: the life of Jesus, Mariology and the saints. It is curated by Joseph Renta, humanities professor at San Beda College-Alabang and also curator of De La Salle University-Dasmariñas and San Beda-Alabang Museums.

?Everything here is museum standard,? says Renta. ?We?ve invested so much on the lighting. It doesn?t emit heat. And the temperature is controlled.?

Restoration and conservation are supervised by Maita Reyes, professor of conservation in University of Sto. Tomas and also conservator of the San Agustin and Lopez Museums.

Mary and Joseph

The only contemporary artwork here is Renato Robles? giant crucifix of molded concrete and plaster with stainless-steel tubes extending across the lawn and looping to form an archway to the door.

An antique bronze church bell from Europe is also installed on the lawn, while wooden angels guard the entrance.

On a corner near the entrance is a high relief of the Madonna and Child in Carrara marble from 1636, inscribed with ?Ave Maria.? This is said to be a miraculous image.

As soon as the door is opened, one is struck by the centerpiece, ?Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth,? from the French Renaissance, a mural-size piece in oil on canvas said to have inspired the building of the museum. It is visually grabbing not so much for its dramatic composition as for its shocking patches of vermilion, poison-green, ultramarine, yellow, gold.

The foyer is adorned with ceramic paintings and Byzantine icons in egg tempera on metal plates.

The ground-level galleries are arrayed with depictions of Mary and Joseph, such as ?Betrothal of Mary and Joseph? from the French Baroque, and a St. Joseph oil-on-metal from the Italian Renaissance.

The most notable is a group sculpture in polychrome wood from late 19th century, seven freestanding figures and a high relief depicting ?Happy Death of St. Joseph.?

Passion of Christ

At the foot of the stairs to the mezzanine is a 50-inch interactive LCD that helps one explore the museum. The digital display also shows the Christian art exhibited in the great museums of Europe.

At the top of the stairs is the Passion?and here, on the mezzanine, unfold among the most sorrowful images known to humankind.

?Ecce Homo? is a moving 18th-century painting from the Spanish Baroque, while ?Sorrowful Nun,? variably called ?Praying Saint,? from 19th-century France, looks more a portrait of bliss than grief.

There is a Santo Entierro in polychrome wood from Brazil, early 19th century, while another Santo Entierro is painted nude on shaped metal (rather shocking for its realism).

Standing out for being the only nonreligious item here is a depiction of French nobility, delicately rendered. It has been included in the exhibit for its provenance.

By the stairs to the basement, just before the Holy Family module, is St. Matthew?s Genealogy of Christ (incongruously located in front of the toilet).

Icon Room

In the basement, you?d be greeted by the waft of Gregorian chant and the whiff of incense in the Icon Room, where two Christian Churches meld in the sanctification of the soul and the glorification of God.

There is a small chapel thronged with altar, bishop?s chair, lectern, liturgical vestments, sacred vessels ranging from chalice to ciborium, platens, monstrance, portapaz.

Here, too, is the resplendent iconography of the Eastern Church, icons in egg tempera and gold from Russia, Belarus, Estonia, Ukraine.

But the most amazing are the ornate reliquaries gathered here. You?d look incredulous on seeing relics of a saint or two, but you?d likely flip over when faced with relics of Vincent de Paul, François de Sales, Agatha, Martha, Anne, Augustine, Claire, Francis of Assisi, Louis IX, Teresa de Avila, Theodisia, Stanislaus, Pancratic, Praxedis, Ireneus, Catherine.

These range from third- to first-class relics, from soil and cloth to flesh, blood and bones. The most incredible is the mandible of St. Pothin, martyr of Lyon.

Ivory Room

Annexed to the Icon Room is the Ivory Room, certainly the crowning glory of the museum, featuring some 200 pieces carved from the tusks of African and Indian elephants, and one odd item of spirally twisting narwhal ivory.

There?s a portable ivory altar, but the collection chiefly consists of crucifixes, of which most of what remain are the ivory images of the Crucified Christ, their often wooden crosses long lost to time.

Lhuillier has long been fascinated by the different facial expressions of Christ at death throes, thus the astonishing variety of Crucifixions here.

The biggest piece is a crucifix from late 18th century, while the oldest is a St. Peter from the Renaissance. The only Filipino ivory is a crucifix from Sta. Cruz, Manila, which stands out for its painted details and Asiatic features.

An extraordinary piece of expressive fluid lines is a tri-figure composition depicting Joseph of Arimathea carrying the Dead Christ on his shoulder with Mary trailing behind. This is the only ivory piece owned by Lhuillier?s wife.

Understanding faith

The wife used to complain about the number of sacred objects, that when Lhuillier had to kiss each before leaving the house, it would take so much of his time. Now she?s relieved they have been gathered in one storage.

Lhuillier hopes that with this museum future generations are assured of ?a visible memory and a greater understanding of the people, places and events that helped shape our faith.?

A tour of the place is by appointment only. Call Cheer Mae Ecarma at 8963946; or e-mail cmecarma@pjlhuillier.com.

One can here contemplate the whole stretch of human existence, from birth through life, death and resurrection. One marvels at the mind that could so conceive of putting all this in such small space. Here, indeed, one can find eternity in a grain of sand.