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The church of Santa Maria del Rosario in Venice is more commonly known simply as the Chiesa dei Gesuati -- though this should not be confused with the Jesuit church of Venice, Santa Maria Assunta. The church is relatively new, a true baroque building designed by the archite…
Churches of Venice: Chiesa dei Gesuati (Santa Maria del Rosario)
The church of Santa Maria del Rosario in Venice is more commonly known simply as the Chiesa dei Gesuati -- though this should not be confused with the Jesuit church of Venice, Santa Maria Assunta. The church is relatively new, a true baroque building designed by the archite…
The Chasuble and Antependium of Pizzighettone
The diocesan museum of Cremona has an interesting set of a paraments on display known as the Pizzighettone paraments, coming with reference to the town of the same name. So how did such an impressive set of vestments come to be associated with such a location? The King of Fr…
The Use of the Peacock in Christian Art
The history of the decorative use of peacocks is one that pre-dates Christianity, tied back to the Greco-Roman world. By the late second or early third century we find it also appearing in Christian art, specifically within the context of funerary frescoes and, after that, …
Introducing Devotio- An International Exhibition of Catholic Religious Art and Services in Italy
Italy is in many ways the heart and centre of the world of Catholic sacred art for reason of the long history of its production there and as such it should come as little surprise that it is also home to vendor exhibitions in the same. One such exhibition is called Devotio …
Ambrosian Rite Vestments with the "Cappino" by Sacra Domus Aurea
Those acquainted with the liturgical arts of the See of Milan are familiar with the sight of Ambrosian Rite vestments. These vestments have a unique style and are distinguished, in accordance with an ancient tradition, with the “cappino" worn around the neck and fasten…
Ravenna in the United Kingdom: Mosaics of the Church of the Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria
The Church of the Sacred Heart and Saint Catherine of Alexandria is located in Droitwich, Worcestershire. Construction on the church began in 1919 and was 'completed' by 1921. The church is renowned for its mosaics which are considered perhaps the finest in all of t…
Hugo van der Goes in Berlin
Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie , part of the Staatliche Museum, is currently hosting a breakthrough exhibition on the artistry of Hugo van Der Goes, a technically innovative 15th century painter of altarpieces with artwork in the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain. Only a handful of Hug…
Before and After: St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Janesville, Wisconsin
C onrad Schmitt Studios recently unveiled a project that they undertook at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Janesville, Wisconsin. The project is a key example of how painting and stencilling can not only better accentuate the architecture of a church, it can also compl…
Vestments of Recusant England: The Requiem Chausuble of Helena of Wintour
Continuing on with our considerations of the English, recusant era vestment work of Helena of Wintour, we now turn our attention to her black requiem Mass chasuble for which Stonyhurst College provides the following descriptive details: The black silk and velvet backing are …
Goretti Fine Art: Original Sacred Artwork for Altarpieces, Murals, Antependia & Devotional Paintings
We live in a a time of restoration with various new Catholic artists making a name for themselves in different parts of the world. Two very gifted artists that deserve special mention are George and Polly Capps of Goretti Fine Art . Their original works display a perfunctory…
Splendours of Lisbon: Four Vestment Sets Produced by Roman Ateliers in the Mid 1700's
For those interested in liturgical ceremonial, Lisbon is frequently a destination of interest. The reason for this is primarily that the Patriarch of Lisbon had historically adopted many of the symbols that had come to be uniquely associated to the papacy (though it should …
An Impressive, Hand Illuminated Gradual and Antiphonal from Seventeenth Century Royalist France
Today we're going to take a quick look at the Graduale et Antiphonale ad usum S. Ludovici Domus Regiae Versaliensis which was produced between 1684-86.. As the name suggests it is a French gradual and antiphonal. For those not familiar, basically we are talking about a …
Roman Vestments From the Time of Pope Pius VI
In the year 2010, on the occasion of a Requiem Mass offered for Augustin Cardinal Mayer, OSB (a former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and also a one time president of the Ecclesia Dei Commission), Pope Benedict XVI wore a stunningly beautiful red cope (as is…
Before and After: Kreuzkirche (Chapel of the True Cross) in Heiligenkreuz, Austria
The Kreuzkirche in Heiligenkreuz is a small church/chapel located north of the more well known, main Cistercian abbey church of Heiligenkreuz. Here a relic of the True Cross is kept and here the parish of Heiligenkreuz functionally holds it day-to-day parish liturgies for t…
Eastern-Roman Architecture: The Theoretical Reconstruction of the Lost Church of Saint Polyeuktos in Constantinople
It is very easy to think in terms of "East versus West" when it comes to liturgical art and architecture. In great part this is due to the divergences of later centuries which hardened some of the differences. Eastern churches with their iconostases and distinctiv…
Mosaics from the Duomo di Messina by Atelier Lenarduzzi Mosaici
The Atelier Lenarduzzi Mosaici is a mosaic workshop based out of Pordenone which is located within the northeast of Italy. The workshop, as one might expect, is situated firmly within the Italian tradition, down to its use of traditional mosaic glass made on the Venetian is…
The Rite of Asperges, the Aspersorium and Aspergillum
One of the advantages of specializing in liturgical art is that it provides you with an opportunity to explore even smaller items of liturgical art that frequently go unnoticed. One such example is the aspergillum and aspersorium . The names may sound exotic but ultimately t…
Are Beautiful Vestments More Expensive Today Than They Were in the Past?
Very frequently I have heard the thought expressed that in years past beautiful vestments did not cost as much as they do nowadays. The idea here being that vestment makers today ask for significantly more than the vestment makers of the past used to ask for similar product…
The Ossuary Church of Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte in Rome
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With all of the interest one generally finds in the use of memento mori in churches and liturgical art, it's rather surprising that this church in Rome doesn't get a little more attention -- though at the same time, it is understandable given the plethora of churche…
More Examples of Memento Mori in Vestment Design
Over the years, LAJ has shown photos of many instances of vestments that include reminders of our mortality, called "memento mori" in Latin. As was noted then, their use is not rooted in morbidity nor is it macabre in intent; this is a modern viewpoint that has co…
More Altarpieces for the Suffering Souls of Purgatory
As many will be aware, for most of the Church's life churches traditionally had various altars which were dedicated to particular 'themes.' Most commonly this was expressed in the form of an altar dedicated to a particular saint, one usually of general importanc…
Vestments for All Saints (And Some Thoughts on How to Approach Making Them)
Longtime readers of LAJ will know that as a rule I'm not a huge proponent of what I term, "scenic chasubles" (meaning, chasubles where the entire surface it made into a single scene akin to a painting). Generally the reason for this is that these approaches fr…
