Saints, sinners, paint
• FLEA CIRCUS
Salem's Peabody Essex Museum rummaged through a New York fashion plate's flamboyant closet for "Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel" (up through February 7). Organized by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the exhibit combines haute couture and flea-market finds in eye-popping ensembles that dare us to be as brave as the 88-year-old Apfel. The Peabody Essex also honored its maritime roots with its summer show "The Golden Age of Dutch Seascape." Organized by England's National Maritime Museum, this one catalogued the sea power of the trading empire that financed the 17th-century "Golden Age" of Dutch culture.