Just a brief post before we leave November and the month of the Holy Souls. One of our readers sent in the following photos from the Jubilee Museum in Columbus, Ohio, where they offer various displays of Catholic liturgical art. Inclusive in their display are some very fin…
Two More Black Chasubles for the Month of the Holy Souls
Just a brief post before we leave November and the month of the Holy Souls. One of our readers sent in the following photos from the Jubilee Museum in Columbus, Ohio, where they offer various displays of Catholic liturgical art. Inclusive in their display are some very fin…
Gregorian Chant in the Parish -- Music as Art
Each year as I travel to Catholic shrines the world over, young people keep telling me how much they enjoy the art of Gregorian chant. I hear this frequently, especially from Millennials and members of the so-called Generation Z (the demographic cohort after the Millennia…
A Meditation on a Chasuble
Earlier this month, we shared some delightful pre-20 th century black vestments, all set about with bones and skulls and reminding us of our mortality: all very appropriate and full of teaching.
I would like to share with you another set, which I came across in our vestment…
Noble Simplicity
The concept of "noble simplicity" has been so idly tossed around in the past few decades that it, and the corresponding counter-reaction to it, have become part and parcel of a form of liturgical identity politics. This has less to do with the (seemingly endless…
New Illuminated Altar Cards
Altar cards came into use in the sixteenth century as memory aids; before then, the prayers were all recited by heart. Because they did not yet exist in the Middle Ages, very few altar cards resemble illuminated manuscripts in either their decoration or their symbolism.
Wh…
Images of the Catholic Congo
Soon after the miraculous victory of Afonso Mvemba a Nzinga at the Battle of Mbanza Kongo in 1506, the Kingdom of Kongo established itself as a Catholic monarchy that maintained ties with the Pope and was recognized as a peer by the rulers of Europe.
The art of the Kongo h…
Liturgical Book Arts: The Latest Edition of the Lectionarium
For readers who search for and perhaps collect rare liturgical books, you know what a rare find this book is. Even for online book collectors, is extremely difficult to find a copy of the Lectionarium for Solemn Mass service at the altar.
In fact, I have said for years …
Classical Sacred Art Versus Contemporary Realist Portraiture
As time passes, we are witnessing various revivals in the realm of the arts, sacred or otherwise, which see seemingly long forgotten classical styles and approaches being re-appropriated for use once again. One such area is in the domain of painting where a naturalistic and…
Embroidered Antependia – A Further Approach (by Davis d'Ambly)
Shawn Tribe’s recent posts on the usefulness of altar frontals, or antependia, brought to mind the teaching aspects of liturgical colours and perhaps we can take it one step further: the richness of symbolism used on such frontals – in these cases, the embroidery.
Here are…
Santa Maria della Salute: Further Evidence of the Symbolic and Liturgical Power of Antependia
In a previous article we spoke of the various reasons -- artistic, theological and liturgical -- for employing antependia. One of the points raised was of the importance of colour, not only for giving prominence to the altar, not only because of the beauty it brings, but …
The Historical, Theological, Liturgical and Artistic Case for Altar Frontals
Many of you will know that I have long been a persistent advocate of the liturgical ornament known as the antependium , pallium altaris or, rather less exotically, the altar frontal. The reason for this is, on the one hand, tied to the particular meaning and symbolism of t…
Liturgical Arts at the Lateran Archbasilica (Pavilion and Tintinnabulum Revisited)
Some readers with a special interest in Rome and the Vatican may be happy to know the Lateran Archbasilica's pavilion and tintinnabulum have both been returned to their proper place in the sanctuary of the Lateran. I do not know if this move is permanent; time will …
The History of Watts & Co.
Before beginning my first article for this exciting new venture, I would like to say what a great privilege it is to have been asked by Shawn Tribe to become involved as a fixture at the Liturgical Arts Journal.
My introduction states that I am creative consultant to Watts…
Pictorial Art as an Opportunity for Liturgical Design
I am an artist whose medium of choice is ink drawing at a small scale; almost all of my work is religious in subject. The artistic tradition to which I try to be faithful is ancient and disciplined, corroborated by the exegesis of the church fathers and by the sacred liturg…
