With it presently being the observance All Souls and the month of the Holy Souls, what better time to showcase some altars dedicated to the Holy Souls of Purgatory? Just the other day we had explained here that the purpose of memento mori is not macabre; rather it is to bri…
Three Altars of the Holy Souls in Purgatory
With it presently being the observance All Souls and the month of the Holy Souls, what better time to showcase some altars dedicated to the Holy Souls of Purgatory? Just the other day we had explained here that the purpose of memento mori is not macabre; rather it is to bri…
Eighteenth Century Memento Mori Vestments from Poland
With All Souls Day around the corner, it is time to once again the explore the rich tradition of the use of memento mori for black liturgical vestments. Memento mori appear all throughout the Church's tradition; walk into a Roman basilica and you will be greeted by var…
The Surhuméral of See of Toul, France
In France it is called the "surhuméral" (or "super-humeral") and it is variant on the more widely known "rationale." It is a unique privilege that is reserved to only the prelates of specific Sees. Bernard Berthod, in his excellent Dictionnaire…
The Fifteenth Century Antependium of Gandino's Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta
In a previous article from a couple of years back, we shared with our readers the fifteenth century cope of San Paziano and in the course of that article we also shared also the corresponding chasuble and dalmatic from the set (while also making a very brief reference to th…
The Rustic Beauty of the Chapel of St. Anne in Lawton, Michigan
For a very long while now I've enjoyed a certain kind of Eastern European church architecture that one can find in the more rural regions of Russia and other select parts of Eastern Europe. It is a style that, for me at least, is defined by one simple but defining chara…
Splendours of New Spain: A Set of Embroidered Vestments Made in Mexico in 1730
The following set of fully embroidered, floriated vestments originally came from eighteenth century Mexico, approximately the year 1730, made by Mexican embroiderers. People often make the assumption that the Church in the new world was inherently limited in its ability to…
Churches of Constantinople: The Chora Church
Continuing on with our considerations of some of the churches of the once great imperial Christian city of Constantinople, we will today turn our attention to the second greatest extant structure after Hagia Sophia, the church of St. Saviour in Chora, or what is generally s…
The Peculiar Ninth Century Asturian Church of Santa Cristina de Lena
In the midst of research for another topic, I stumbled across the rather unique and peculiar mid-ninth century church of Santa Cristina de Lena located in Lena, Spain. This particular church architecturally falls into a style of architecture known as "Asturian" c…
A Selection of Antependia from the Fifteenth Through Twentieth Centuries
Antepedia, or altar frontals, have to be one of my favourite liturgical textiles. For one thing, they help to accentuate the altar and they further clothe it in its own kind of of 'vestment.' Second, they have a great deal of ornamental potentiality, ranging from ve…
Elena Neigum on the Icon as Silent Theology - Preserving the Byzantine Canon in Contemporary Liturgical Art
Elena Neigum is an established iconographer and educator who is focused on the analysis of contemporary threats to the Byzantine iconography, advocating for the reaffirmation of the icon as a sacred and theological act within the life of the Church. -- LAJ Guest article by E…
Dom Joseph Gajard, OSB: Master of Gregorian Chant
Sometimes older priests will say, "Everything I know about Gregorian Chant I learned from Dom Joseph Gajard." This is a common sentiment expressed by many clergy who learned about the beauty and flexibility of plainchant from this devoted French master of venerabl…
The Romanesque Abbey of Pomposa
Romanesque, in my experience, is a style that has one of the widest popular appeals of the various styles of Christian liturgical architecture. It is a sober on the one hand, but on the other it is weighty and imbued with a Roman gravitas . In many ways, many styles that cam…
Four Polychromed Reliquary Busts from Eighteenth Century Como
Reliquary busts are one of my favourite objects of liturgical art where the altar is concerned. To my mind, they not only are beautiful 'houses' for the relics they contain, they also help to make these relics more 'incarnate' and tangible, reminding us of …
The Impressive, Ancient Eastern Roman Church of Panagia Ekatontapilian
The Church of Panagia Ekatontapiliani (Our Lady of the Hundred Gates) is a beautiful Byzantine era structure located in Parikia on the island of Paros in Greece. The origins of this ancient church are said to date back to the year 328, thus falling in the period of the rei…
Altarpieces of the Church of St. Oswald, Seefeld in Tyrol, Austria
Nestled within Austria are all sorts of treasures, sometimes treasures hiding in plain sight. From the outside the parish church of St. Oswald simply seems like a beautiful little church, but in the bigger scheme of the churches of Europe it doesn't particularly stand o…
Four Superb Seventeenth Century Chalice Veils From the Cathedral of Florence
Chalice veils do not typically get a lot of attention where liturgical vestments are concerned. But chalice veils often present opportunities for some of the most eye-catching designs. In great part this is simply due their square shape and the corresponding ability to crea…
Other Modern: The Basilica of Saint Rita of Cascia
It has been awhile since we've dipped our proverbial toes into the realm of the "Other Modern" and, because of that, let's once again briefly review what this concept means. Other Modern is a name that has been adopted to refer to contemporary styles of ar…
A Full Solemn Pontifical Mass Set From the Early Eighteenth Century
Full Solemn Pontifical Mass sets are generally a vestment aficionados dream come true for the simple reason that they not only include the most parts and pieces, they typically are made from the very best materials and highest quality embroideries, being amongst some of the…
Guest Article: The Aspiring New Architectural Practice of Daniel P. DeGreve, Architect
Guest article by Daniel P. DeGreve, Architect Daniel P. DeGreve, Architect is an architectural firm in the process of being launched an hour north of Columbus, Ohio, and will include full planning and design consultation services specializing in Catholic sacred architecture …
The Chasuble of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese from the Gesù in Rome
The Chasuble of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese is dated to circa 1575-1589 and is located within the famed church of the Gesù in Rome. (Do note that neither he, nor the chasuble, should not be confused with another, arguably more famous 'Farnese chasuble,' that of Card…
A Closer Look at the Mosaics of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna
Today I wanted to take a closer look at some of the exquisite mosaics found in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, located in the old imperial city of Ravenna (formerly capital of the Western Roman Empire during the fifth century). The basilica itself was constr…
Further Historical Vestments Seen in Sacred Art
Our 'vestments in art' series is always rather popular with our readers, so I'm pleased to add yet another instalment to the series today. The first image is a painting of Saint Lifard, painted in the early 1500's, and while it would be easy to get distracte…
Before and After: St. Andrew’s Church in Tipton, Missouri
C onrad Schmitt Studios recently shared a beautiful 'before and after' project that they were involved with at St. Andrew’s Church in Tipton, Missouri. The project involved bringing the nineteenth century church back to life through the use of colour, gilding, stenci…
Returning to the Byzantine Church of Agioi Apostoloi (Holy Apostles) in the Agora of Ancient Athens
We have previously shown readers this church before, but recently some better photographs came to light, and one can rarely have too much of a good thing where this sort of thing is concerned, so I decided it was worth the revisit, particularly as I have attempted to show b…
The Romanesque Abbey of Sant’Andrea in Flumin
Today I thought we'd take a look at the Romanesque abbey of Sant'Andrea in Flumin, which is located near Ponzano Romano, a region located relatively near to Rome. In that regard, one can well expect to see a strong Roman influence and that is certainly in evidence h…
St. Michael's Abbey in Farnborough, England
St. Michael's Abbey is one of England's best kept secrets. Step back in time as you visit this gem tucked away in the English countryside. Be mesmerized by the time capsule experience. Here are entombed the mortal remains of Emperor Napoleon III, his wife the Empres…
Watts and Co.'s Stunning Spanish Requiem Set
W atts and Co. of London is well enough known to our readers. They are a maker of proprietary silk textiles, liturgical vestments and -- perhaps less well known to our readers -- other textile based products related to home decor and furnishing. In short, they are a company …
The Byzantine Era Church (and Balustrade) of Panagia Kapnikarea in Athens, Greece
Continuing on with our occasional considerations of Byzantine churches and some of the similarities we can find within them of the earlier churches of both East and West in the first millennium, today we turn to the Byzantine church of Panagia Kapnikarea (the name itself is…
Details of a Renaissance Spanish Cope from the 1500's
There is very little that needs to be said about this stunning cope, and indeed the historical details are somewhat sparse. We know that this cope is thought to have originated out of Spain sometime in the 1500's and certainly its design characteristics are consistent w…
The Late Medieval Minden Mitre (ca. 1425-1430)
Shown here is a medieval mitre originally found in the Treasury of Minden Cathedral ( Mindener Dom ), which is located in north-western Germany. This particular mitre is thought to have its origins in a workshop coming from this same region and is dated to circa 1425-1430.
From A.D. 683: The Earliest Extant Mosaic of the Roman Martyr, St. Sebastian
Located within the Roman Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli is one of the oldest extant mosaics of the third century Roman martyr, St. Sebastian. As the legend goes, St. Sebastian was a member of the Roman guard under the Emperor Diocletian and, his Christian faith being dis…
The Byzantine Church of Panagía Gorgoepíkoös
The Byzantine Church of Panagía Gorgoepíkoös in Athens, Greece, is a unique little structure. In terms of its size, it is quite tiny, likely to only hold a hundred worshippers at most, but what it lacks in size it certainly makes up for in charm. The dating of the church i…
