The "Stauroteca" of Cardinal Bessarion is, at its simplest, a reliquary that was designed to hold two shards of the True Cross and also two pieces of the tunic of Christ. This is in fact what the word "stauroteca" refers to for it is a combination of two…
The Reliquary of the True Cross of the Byzantine-Greek Cardinal, Ioannis Bessarion
The "Stauroteca" of Cardinal Bessarion is, at its simplest, a reliquary that was designed to hold two shards of the True Cross and also two pieces of the tunic of Christ. This is in fact what the word "stauroteca" refers to for it is a combination of two…
Vestments for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
With the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross being soon upon us, I thought I'd take this opportunity to quickly share a few historical vestments, chasubles specifically, that feature the use of a bold crucifixion scene within their respective designs. Most of the e…
Bernini's Alternate Designs for the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica
Perhaps one of the most famous and recognizable Catholic monuments in the world is the sculptural groups that forms the backdrop for the Altar of the Chair within St. Peter's Basilica. Today, of course, the historical altar itself has -- regrettably -- disappeared, but …
Rustic, Folk Embroidered Vestments of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Over the years we have presented quite a number of artistic styles for your consideration. In the realm of sacred vestments, we have routinely presented elegant and sophisticated pieces coming from the age of the baroque; we have shown the refinement of the Renaissance age,…
Thoughts on Processional Cross Design
Processional crosses are one of the most neglected of objects of liturgical art in my opinion. One rarely sees them discussed, perhaps in part because they are often only focused on in very short bursts, specifically the few moments when they are carried to and fro in proce…
The Spectacular Mosaics of Agios Georgios, The Rotunda of Thessaloniki
The Rotunda of Thessaloniki is a monument with a long history. It began as a pagan Roman structure, erected by the Roman Emperor, Galerius, sometime around the year A.D. 305-311 What the structure was used for initially is a matter of some debate -- with some speculating i…
Late Gothic Altarpieces: The Hallstätter Marienaltar in Austria
We only recently approached a late gothic, Austrian, winged altarpiece, that of Pfarrkirche Gampern, so one might naturally wonder why we would already approach yet another. The answer is that there is a potential relationship between these two altars as it is thought that …
Opinion: The Alleged Attempt to Restore the Sarum Use
Guest Opinion by Liam Warner Now and again one hears at a cocktail party that when Pope Pius IX restored the English diocesan hierarchy in 1850, the bishops seriously considered adopting the missal and breviary of Sarum, which had been those used in England before the Reform…
A Belgian Needle-Painted Mitre from 1592
The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) have a number of interesting objects of liturgical art in their collection, including this precious mitre dated to circa 1592. The V&A suggest the mitre was made in Flanders (Belgium) and it very much falls within the late medie…
A Byzantine Pietra Dura Icon of (St.) Eudocia the Empress
Eudocia, or more properly Aelia Eudocia Augusta, was the Eastern Roman Empress and wife of Theodosius II, living between the years A.D. 400-460. Within the Byzantine East she is considered a saint and her feast is observed on August 13th. Our concern here today, however, …
A Brief Survey of Antique Silver Statuary
Today I thought we'd do something very simple and take a quick look at a few examples of antique silver statuary. Silver statuary is, of course, rather rare by comparison with other sorts of sculpture, typically made of stone, wood or (regrettably) plaster, and the best…
The Noble and Beautiful Chapel of the Former Carmelite Monastery of St. Joseph and St. Anne in Philadelphia
Built in the first quarter of the twentieth century, the chapel of the former Carmelite Monastery of St. Joseph and St. Anne in Philadelphia is/was quite a beautiful example of contemporary liturgical architecture, filled as it is with a mixture of stonework, metalwork, mos…
Guest Article: The Church of Saints Dominic and Sixtus and the Angelicum in Rome
Guest Article by Ishmael Obinna Adibuah The Dominican Order has had a presence in Rome since it was first invited there by Pope Honorius III in 1219. Founded by Saint Dominic just three years prior, the order, with its charism of study, initially established a school ( studiu…
Book Notice: The High Hallow - Tolkien’s Liturgical Imagination
Tolkien's magnum opus, The Lord of the Rings , has always drawn attention, but since the release of the film adaptations of these books more than twenty years ago, it has become somewhat fashionable to fixate on Tolkien, his mythology, and in some circles, his life and f…
The Chapel of the Madonna del Mascoli in the Basilica di San Marco, Venice
One thing frequently begets another, and our recent considerations of some of the lesser noticed spaces of St. Mark's Basilica continues, this time with another small chapel found within the basilica, the Chapel of the Madonna del Mascoli. The Chapel of the Madonna del …
The Rarely Highlighted Chapels of St. Peter and St. Clement in St. Mark's Basilica in Venice
Within the Italo-Byzantine jewel that is St. Mark's in Venice, it can be easy to become overwhelmed by all the splendour that can be found there. Anyone with even a passing familiarity of that basilica will know only too well what I mean; it is really the sort of place …
Book Review - Mantilla: The Veil of the Bride of Christ by Anna Elissa
Our good friends at Os Justi Press have published yet another intriguing book on a liturgical subject entitled Mantilla - The Veil of the Bride of Christ . The author is Anna Elissa, a lay professional women from Indonesia who happens to be a psychiatrist. The glowing Forewo…
Rare Survivals: A Green Cope from the 1500's
Green vestments from the Renaissance and Middle Ages have less commonly survived and come down to us, no doubt in part because typically the vestments which have survived are also those that are the most precious and ornamental in nature -- and typically the most precious a…
Some Early Modern Byzantine Mitres
Within the Latin West, we are, of course, accustomed to the iconic curved and pointed episcopal mitre. In an article we published here in 2022, we detailed a very brief history of theWestern mitre and the evolution its shape . One of the things we noted in that article was t…
Medieval Survivals and Its Liturgical Lessons For Today: A Twelfth Century Apparelled Alb
Albs are one of those basic items of clerical vesture that tend to get a lot more attention these days than one would think they might. Likely derived from the Roman tunic, at root they are simply a white linen under-robe that is worn by clerics beneath the other, much more…
The Fifteenth Century Frauenfeld-Kreuzlingen Mitre
Crafted circa 1414-1420, the Frauenfeld mitre is an exquisite and rare, in tact example of a late medieval mitre. The mitre is thought to have been possibly commissioned by the Abbot of Kreuzlingen, Erhard Lind, after the anti-pope John XXIII granted him the privilege of we…
Altarpieces of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
While the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was only officially made a dogma in the 1950's, belief in the Assumption does, of course, extend back much further into history than this. It was celebrated at least as early as the fourth or fifth century and attesting to…
Some Sacristies of Europe
What is a sacristy? For most Catholics, they tend to think of the sacristy (which is sometimes also called a vestry or, in some liturgical books, a diaconicum or secretarium ) as something akin to a mere 'cloak room' or 'storage room' for priests. There is …
The Chapel of the Virgin: Crown Jewel of the Cathedral of Rouen
The Chapel of the Virgin (Chapelle de la Vierge) is an extraordinary chapel located in the axis of the cathedral of Rouen, more formally known as the Cathédrale Primatiale Notre-Dame de l'Assomption de Rouen. The chapel itself was begun in the year 1302 at the initiati…
A Semi-Conical Chasuble From the 1400's
Recently I came across this rather fetching chasuble that is thought to be of Italian and/or German origin, dated to sometime within the 1400's. Many medieval chasubles can be rather 'busy,' covered as many often are, with all sorts of symbols and figures, but …
Alb (Camice) Made by St. Clare of Assisi
The liturgical garment known as an alb was in previous centuries much more flowing, as seen here in thirteenth century, with pleated sides. These oversized albs were held up at the waste with a regular cincture, allowing material to overhang at the waist. Similarly, sleeves…
The Cathedral-Basilica of San Lorenzo in Viterbo
Viterbo's Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral-Basilica of San Lorenzo, is a twelfth century Romanesque edifice located within central Italy part way between Rome and Florence. For a time, this particular basilica was home to two popes: Alexander IV and John XXI.
A Sixteenth Century Antependium Featuring the Roman Martyr, St. Lawrence
Saint Lawrence is a popular third century Roman martyr who was killed during the persecutions of the Emperor Valerian. He is said to have died in the year A.D. 258 at the tender age of 33 -- thus placing his martyrdom thirty years before that of another great and popular ma…
A Rare Example of a Western Vestment Showcasing the Transfiguration
For whatever reason, in the Christian West the Transfiguration is one of those events in the life of Christ that has not received as much liturgical prominence as say the Nativity, the Epiphany, or the Ascension. In fact in the Latin rite it was only in the mid-fifteenth ce…
The Feast of Our Lady of the Snows and the Medieval Facade of Santa Maria Maggiore
In a previous article , we discussed the current baroque and previous medieval facade of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Like so many of the churches of Rome, it has seen an evolution in its appearance over the centuries. In general, antique, Roman inspired facades were, in th…
The Five Cupolas of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice
In a previous article we spoke more generally about the Italo-Byzantine Domes of Venice . That particular article was focused primarily on the exterior of the domes with their distinctive shape that can be found throughout Venice as well as some other parts of Italy where th…
The Wooden Churches of Chile
While I tend to most appreciate a fully polychromed marble church in the Imperial Roman tradition, I have also always been drawn to wooden church structures. There is a certain rusticity about these churches that, much like a log cabin, feels comfortable in some way, shape …
