Coming out of fourth century Roman workshops were a series of decorative glasswork referred to as the golden or gilded glasses. These glassworks come from the paleochristian period and contain various depictions of Christian imagery, particularly the depiction of popular Ro…
Fourth Century Roman Glassware of Ss. Peter and Paul, St. Lawrence and St. Agnes and Other Roman Martyrs
Coming out of fourth century Roman workshops were a series of decorative glasswork referred to as the golden or gilded glasses. These glassworks come from the paleochristian period and contain various depictions of Christian imagery, particularly the depiction of popular Ro…
Guest Article: A Visual Reconstruction of the First Mass in Wyoming
Guest Article by George Capps and Polly Capps Paule On July 5, 1840, the Flemish Jesuit Pierre-Jean De Smet offered Mass atop a bluff near present-day Daniel, WY . Assembled to witness the ritual was an immense crowd of fur trappers and Indigenous peoples who had convened for…
Unusual Polychromatic Iconostases of Eastern Europe
Typically, when you think of a Byzantine iconostasis, you either think of something either entirely gilt in gold leaf, or you think of one that has been left with its wood uncovered and stained (usually in a dark walnut sort of colour), possibly with some occasional gold le…
New Church Architecture: St. Mary of Sorrows in Fairfax, Virginia
The Church of St. Mary of Sorrows is a new church project that was undertaken by McCrery Architects in Fairfax, Virginia. This particular project follows, as McCrery generally does, a traditional, neo-classical idiom. McCrery sets the backdrop and goals of the project for …
The Lower and Upper Treasury Museums of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome
Aficionados of sacred vestments and other objects of liturgical art are reasonably familiar with the fact that if you proceed into the subterranean levels of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome (accessed through the baptistery and ultimately through the adjacent gi…
Before and After: St. Thomas More Cathedral in Arlington, Virginia
Most of our 'Before and After' series tend to focus on the interior of a church, with little or no mention of the exterior . (Generally, the interior is where the focus primarily is.) Well today, we are pleased to present a project executed by the architects, O'B…
A Carved Processional Statue and Bier for the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington
Processional statues are something that one primarily sees within the Catholic countries situated around the Mediterranean. I speak here of countries like Italy, Malta, Spain and Portugal. Typically these statues are placed upon ornamental bases -- called biers -- that are …
Chigi Family Chapel in Ariccia
It is a rare opportunity to see, frozen in time, the private family chapel of a noble Roman family. Visitors to the Palazzo Chigi of Ariccia, just outside Rome (a little past Castel Gandolfo), have the pleasure of visiting this unique time capsule, a ducal palace that was t…
Before and After: St. Philips Catholic Church in Rolling Ground, Wisconsin
Our 'Before and After' series tends to get quite a bit of attention and interest -- and also a lot in the way of parishes and parish priests aspiring to do the same within their own parishes. The problem is almost always the same; how to beautify a church that had e…
The Palatine Chapel at the Royal Palace of Caserta
The largest palace in Europe is the Royal Palace of Caserta, near Naples. Here is where the kings of the the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies lived. Construction began in 1752. Visitors wander the recently restored rooms and courtyards and gardens and marvel one of the most be…
The Carmelite "Capela des Ossos" (Chapel of the Bones) in Faro, Portugal
Over the years we have featured a few ossuary chapels -- or 'bone chapels' if you prefer. Mainly we have featured these within the context of a few famous examples within Italy, but today I thought we'd share a far less seen example that can be found in the Igre…
A Black Marian-Themed Cope from the Renaissance
Renaissance era copes have to be amongst some of the most beautiful historical copes one can run into -- at least the one's that have passed down to us (and suffice it to say, typically it is only the very best examples that have managed to survive down to our own day a…
Constantinople's Icon of the Mother of God Nicopeia in Venice
Anyone who has studied the history of the Eastern Roman Empire will know about it's relationship with Venice. Venice found itself on the edge of that Empire, often benefiting from trade and commerce with it, but at times the relationship was far more fractured and strai…
Ambitious 'Catalogue Vestments' From the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Since the advent of the gothic revival, we've become rather fixated on symbols -- perhaps to a fault at times. I say 'to a fault' because not every vestment requires an explicit symbol (the vestment itself stands in its own right). Still, when done correctly, th…
A New Cathedral: Holy Name Cathedral in Raleigh, North Carolina
The erection of a new cathedral is, all things being equal, a rare event. After all, how often does this sort of event occur within ecclesiastical life, particularly in already established, non-mission territories? It is something we seldom see, but recently the architects …
The Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati in Rome
Guest Article by Ishmael Obinna Adibuah The early Christian architecture of Rome offers visitors an opportunity to discover a different artistic style from those that dominate much of the city, namely the Renaissance and Baroque. Churches with this architecture are also of a…
The Charming, Rustic Rural Church of Saint Edmé near Chaserey, France
Quite a few of the churches we have featured here on LAJ over the years are great basilicas, cathedrals and monasteries and the like. The reason for that, of course, is that they generally have a fair bit of art to feature within them, and of course, they are typically of g…
The Chapelle Corpus Christi in Paris: Tomb of St. Peter Julian Eymard
One of my most favorite quiet little corners of the city of Paris is the Chapel of Corpus Christi, tucked away near the Arc de Triomphe, one of the most famous city landmarks in Paris. Here one can pray in silence in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed daily for E…
Memento Mori Requiem Vestments from the Cathedral of Segovia, Spain
Segovia Cathedral in Spain is more properly known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption and of Saint Fructus, being constructed between the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries in a late gothic style. Within the cathedral are found a great many liturgical orname…
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…
