Religious art

On the occasion of the opening in 2020 of the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces, stylistic trends of modern Orthodox architecture and ecclesiastical art are analyzed. It’s considered the phenomenon of the reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, its influence on the development of monumental religious painting in Russia, as well as the building the Cathedral of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church on Lubyanka. The problematic of the style of new Orthodox architecture and ecclesiastical art is formulated in terms of eclecticism (historicism) that has a programmatic symbolic meaning in the context of the “statization” of Russian art culture of the past few decades.

Schede storico-critiche in Gauguin Matisse Chagall, La passione nell’arte francese dai Musei Vaticani, catalogo della mostra a cura di M. Forti e N. Righi (Milano, Museo Diocesano Carlo Maria Martini, 21 febbraio-17 maggio 2020), Milano, Silvana editoriale, 2020:
[ISBN: 978-88-366-4613-5]
Henri Matisse, Crucifixion, d’aprés Prud’hon (olio su tela, 1892-1893), pp. 66-67;
Henri Matisse, Crucifix pour l’autel (bronzo, 1951), pp. 68-69;
Henri Matisse, La Sainte Vierge, (due litografie, 1951), pp. 70-73.

The use of religious images was already present in Filipino culture before the arrival of the Spaniards. With the coming of Christianity and the establishment of the Philippines as a Spanish colony, indigenous statues were replaced with Catholic images and icons, the santo. Records from the 17th to the 19th century show that missionaries relied on secular help in establishing a system of sponsorship for religious images. Those who sponsored santos were called camareros. This study aims to expand the work of Venida [1996, pp.500-513] and Galang [2012, pp.45-60], which focused on rural aristocracy and the traditional system of sponsorship for religious images established during the Spanish colonial period. Using anecdotes, personal interviews and a survey of camareros, the present study explores new systems of sponsorship for religious images in the twenty-first century, and describes the demographics, motivations, interactions, finances and santo collections of contemporary camareros.

Cette étude se propose de réexaminer la peinture religieuse de Charles de La Fosse à la lumière de la notion de grâce, comprise dans sa double signification de secours surnaturel de Dieu et de charme indéfinissable. Les grâces divine et esthétique étaient intimement liées au début de l’époque moderne, mais, à la fin du xviie siècle, leur rapprochement était devenu intenable. S’appuyant sur une constellation de débats théologiques, artistiques et rhétoriques contemporains, notre étude tente d’expliquer en quoi la peinture religieuse de La Fosse est symptomatique des rapports de plus en plus ténus entre les deux conceptions. En s’attachant à intégrer ces dernières, ses peintures s’exposent aux problèmes que la grâce présente et en deviennent un véhicule involontaire de l’émergence d’une autonomie picturale moderne.

The merited response argument is an argument in favour of artistic ethicism. According to this view, the interaction between art and morality is such that a moral defect in a work of art negatively influences the work's artistic value (and a moral merit, when relevant, is always an artistic merit). I contend that the argument relies on a criterion of aesthetic and artistic relevance that, when properly understood, fails to constitute a premise that either the artistic contextualist or the autonomist would accept. I then offer a version of the merited response argument that supports artistic contextualism and argue that, given certain controversial assumptions, immoral art in the Western tradition is more common than typically acknowledged in the recent literature on the topic.

'An invaluable introduction to the figure of Luisa Roldán . . . Drawing on her own extensive archival research and decades of firsthand study of the sculpture, Catherine Hall-van den Elsen offers a sensitive analysis of the works while also setting them effectively in their historical context . . . More than the story of one remarkable sculptor, this book also offers insights into the challenges women confronted in seventeenth-century Spain and the artistic production of the period.' – Patrick Lenaghan, Curator, Hispanic Society Museum and Library

'Catherine Hall has produced a book which is a pleasure to read, superbly illustrated, incorporating fascinating details about the society in which Luisa worked, including the challenges she faced as a woman artist. At the same time this monograph is rooted in serious scholarship, discussing the process of some of the commissions, as well as the materials and techniques lying behind the creation of these extraordinary works of art. This is both a highly readable and delightful book.' – Marjorie Trusted, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Victoria and Albert Museum

This beautifully illustrated monograph presents the first overview in English of the life and work of Luisa Roldán (1652–1706), a prolific and celebrated sculptor of the Spanish Golden Age.

The daughter of Pedro Roldán, a well-known sculptor from Seville, she developed her talent in her father’s workshop. Early in her career she produced large polychromed wooden sculptures for churches in Seville, Cádiz, and surrounding towns. She spent the second half of her career in Madrid, where she worked in both polychromed wood and polychromed terracotta, developing new products for a domestic, devotional market. In recognition of her talent, she was awarded the title of Sculptor to the Royal Chambers of two kings of Spain, Charles II and Philip V.

This book places Roldán within a wider historical and social context, exploring what life would have been like for her as a woman sculptor in early modern Spain. It considers her work alongside that of other artists of the Baroque period, including Velázquez, Murillo, and Zurbarán. Reflecting on the opportunities available to her during this time, as well as the challenges she faced, Catherine Hall-van den Elsen weaves the narrative of Roldán’s story with analysis, revealing the complexities of her oeuvre.

Every year, newly discovered sculptures in wood and in terracotta enter into Roldán’s oeuvre. As her artistic output begins to attract greater attention from scholars and art lovers, Luisa Roldán provides invaluable insights into her artistic achievements.

UK/ROW: https://www.lundhumphries.com/products/luisa-roldan
N. America: https://shop.getty.edu/products/luisa-roldan-978-1606067321

I föreliggande PM kommer jag att analysera Michelanego de Carravagios berömda målning Matteus blir kallad, som finns i kyrkan San Luigi de Franscei i Rom. Jag kommer att försöka hitta bakomliggande teologi och eventuella andra budskap. Vilket syfte tjänar målningen? Vad är det Caravaggio vill få sagt med sin målning? Vad vill han att betraktaren ska ta till sig – och måhända göra?

The Madonna lactans refers to a pictorial tradition which emerged in early fourteenth century Italy, depicting the Virgin Mary breastfeeding an infant Christ. Characterised by notions of humility, charity and maternal love, the Madonna lactans icon was utilised in both public and private worship of the Virgin Mary. The pictorial tradition underwent radical shifts in function and reception throughout the late medieval and renaissance periods, during which political, religious, and social conflict affected artistic production, the role of the Catholic Church and the perception of the Virgin Mary within theology. This thesis examines the fluctuating attitudes towards depictions of the Virgin Mary’s nursing breast within Madonna lactans icons and charts the transition of the emotive ability of the image from piety, to fear. It will be argued that, despite Madonna lactans icons initial function as a symbol of the Virgin’s divine and eternal love for Christ, the introduction of new artistic traditions, such as naturalism and anatomical accuracy, subverted the symbolic resonance of the Virgin’s nursing breast. This subversion was so extensive that by 1563, the image was banned and shunned due to its ‘lascivious’ nature. Art historians differ in their analysis of the function and reception of Madonna lactans icons. Some argue that the introduction of naturalism inherently imbued eroticism within the image, regardless of intent. Conversely, others argue that the pious connotations of the Virgin’s nursing breast were too poignant for eroticism to be perceived within the image. This thesis refutes both these claims, rather, arguing that the Madonna lactans pictorial tradition reflects a duality of eroticism and piety within its content and form. In order to form this argument, multiple contemporaneous images, primary accounts by artists and patrons, and treatises will be consulted in order to assess the response to Madonna lactans icons in situ and by the layperson.

In exhibiting historical works of ecclesiastical art, curators and custodians often attempt to replicate, take inspiration from, or at least point towards the original conditions in which an item was displayed, in the hope of indicating its original function, and capturing the spirit in which it was first seen. In many cases, however, the location and setting in which such works first appeared represent only one of several historical possibilities. Between the 1780s and the 1820s, religious paintings by Benjamin West appeared in a range of sacred and secular settings. Often these were not the locations for which they were originally conceived. As a result, it is difficult to draw distinctions between ecclesiastical art and exhibition pictures in West's oeuvre. Furthermore, his church and chapel pictures were often conceived as offering their viewers a spectacle of aesthetic delight, while his gallery pictures were observed to hold a strong appeal to those of a highly pious persuasion. This ambiguity has provided some of West's scriptural paintings with a flexibility that has ensured their survival. In this paper, I would like to suggest that by being open, both to the aesthetic and the religious potential of West's spectacular imagery, curators today might be able to give some of his neglected works a new lease of life, while remaining true to the spirit of their historical function.

On the occasion of the exhibition at Bard College, I wrote an essay in the catalogue thinking through the contemporary ex-voto. I discuss Yves Klein, Kiki Smith, David Wojnarowicz, Yoko Ono, and others, and in particular the notion of the fragility of the body in relationship to participatory / political goals since the AIDS crisis and who we need to consider addressed in a contemporary ex-voto.

The Church of St Elijah in Vučitrn was built from 1823. to 1834., when it was consecrated. It was built by the people of the parish, on the spot where they had buried liturgical objects few years ago, which then served as an evidence of the existence of an earlier church for gaining the permission from the authorities.
It is a single-nave church, built of a cut stone, with its interior divided into the sanctuary, the nave and the narthex. With its architectural features as the gallery above the narthex designated for women, gable roof and the method of construction that was achieved for the church to be dug in in the ground to a certain height, this temple is a typical example of church architecture in the framework of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Ottoman Empire. For understanding this art, the achievement of Debar’s zographs (painters) in its decorating is just as important. Zograph Dičo from the village of Tresonče painted iconostasis in 1846, while his disciple Blaža Damjanović, painted the church in 1871. Since the church was twice burned and vandalized, in 1999 and 2004, when the wall paintings were destoryed, iconostasis was transferred to the church of the Banjska monastery. The main characteristic of the iconographic scheme and the visual poetics of their icons is the emphasis on tradition and the respect for the dogmatic character of icons. Also, they follow the zographic model of icon painting which developed in Italo-Cretan workshops in the XVI century, combining with baroque and rococo decorative solutions.
The context of construction and forms of the interior design of the church has given a significant example of the nineteenth century art in this part of the Ottoman Empire. It is a paradigm of specific mode of construction that was adorned with a dominant model of religious painting of the time.

In 1911 Vasily Kandinsky published the first edition of ‘On the Spiritual in Art’, a landmark modernist treatise in which he sought to reframe the meaning of art and the true role of the artist. For many artists of late Imperial Russia – a culture deeply influenced by the regime’s adoption of Byzantine Orthodoxy centuries before – questions of religion and spirituality were of paramount importance. As artists and the wider art community experimented with new ideas and interpretations at the dawn of the twentieth century, their relationship with ‘the spiritual’ – broadly defined – was inextricably linked to their roles as pioneers of modernism.

This diverse collection of essays introduces new and stimulating approaches to the ongoing debate as to how Russian artistic modernism engaged with questions of spirituality in the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. Ten chapters from emerging and established voices offer new perspectives on Kandinsky and other familiar names, such as Kazimir Malevich, Mikhail Larionov, and Natalia Goncharova, and introduce less well-known figures, such as the Georgian artists Ucha Japaridze and Lado Gudiashvili, and the craftswoman and art promoter Aleksandra Pogosskaia.

Prefaced by a lively and informative introduction by Louise Hardiman and Nicola Kozicharow that sets these perspectives in their historical and critical context, Modernism and the Spiritual in Russian Art: New Perspectives enriches our understanding of the modernist period and breaks new ground in its re-examination of the role of religion and spirituality in the visual arts in late Imperial Russia. Of interest to historians and enthusiasts of Russian art, culture, and religion, and those of international modernism and the avant-garde, it offers innovative readings of a history only partially explored, revealing uncharted corners and challenging long-held assumptions.

Wilfred Owen's powerful poetry is the catalyst and the source of inspiration of my oeuvre on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In my art I study Owen’s choice of words and tone in order to restore, create and embody in visual form the atmosphere of harshness and terror, and to convey the extreme situations experienced by these injured souls. In my paper I address the methods that I use in order to express in material form their vulnerable and fractured mental state according to Owen’s spirit.

Published in The Wilfred Owen Association Journal, Issue 1, pp. 6-11.

The splendid art deco oeuvre created in the 1920s and 30s by monk and silversmith dom Martin is still a rather too-well-kept Leuven secret, even though his creations, executed in the most luxurious materials in cooperation with the famous firm Wolfers Frères and laquerwork artist Marcel Wolfers, were very much to international taste at the time. Until recently we knew of only about twenty realized designs. Detective work, which started with the original design sketches and archive photographs in Keizersberg Abbey in Leuven and the Silver Museum of the Province of Antwerp, brought to light magnificent new examples of his work and additional information about the artist’s clientele. Dom Martin received orders from members of the Belgian and French aristocracy, churches, monasteries and abbeys in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, even from as far afield as the United States of America and Brazil. On the other hand, the radical stylistic evolution of Jean Ausloos could be said to reflect the trends in Belgian silver design of the fifties and sixties. Whereas he initially fell in with the art-deco tradition, in the 1960s he came up with streamlined designs in which he played with contrasts in colour and texture. Ausloos’ clientele included a large number of young trainee seminarians and missionaries, who appreciated his individual, bespoke work. The work of both silversmiths illustrates the waves of innovation in ecclesiastical art between the world wars and after the Second Vatican Council. In terms of production, we are now aware of an interesting antithesis between Martin’s one-off pieces produced in an industrial way and Ausloos’ articles made by hand almost in series. As well as Martin and Ausloos, who are approached as representative of and as a case study for twentieth-century (Leuven) silver design, other smaller firms and independent silversmiths were active in Leuven. In conclusion, silverware produced in Leuven in the twentieth century – and the same applies to Belgium as a whole! – clearly requires further research. So the investigative work carried out for this exhibition should also serve as a springboard and incentive to take a close look at the fascinating work of designers and silversmiths in the last century. Published in: K. Goubert (ed.), Zilver: kunst, object, verhalen uit Leuven, exh.cat., Leuven (M - Museum Leuven), 2015, ISBN 9789082344707, fully illustrated, Dutch with English summaries.

In 1959, the Bob Jones University Gallery of Sacred Art acquired St. Francis Receiving the Christ Child from the Virgin, a large altarpiece by Denys Calvaert. The painting was altered during restoration, as someone painted a wisp of fabric to cover the exposed genitals of the nude Christ Child. Bob Jones Jr., founder of the collection and then University president, cited the expectations of the University‟s Fundamentalist constituency in defending several such alterations, but the exhibits and publications of the Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery are silent on the matter. In this paper, I analyze the causes and consequences of that problematic silence before offering specific proposals to remedy them.

First, I describe how the acquisition, alteration, and interpretation of the Calvaert conform to the expectations of M&G's founder and its Fundamentalist constituency. M&G has acted to reconcile the Catholic content of the collection with the anti-Catholicism of Fundamentalist tradition, and to maintain a standard of “modesty” appropriate to the perceived preferences of that tradition. Next, I explain why the retouching and the lack of public information about it are unfortunate, emphasizing how they conflict with the museum's own stated educational goals. The nudity of the Christ Child on this altarpiece is integral to its religious, cultural, and art-historical origins. In conforming to the expectations of one segment of its audience, the museum has lost part of the history and therefore diminished the educational potential of its collection.

Finally, this paper offers several specific strategies for incorporating information about the original and altered states of the painting into the existing interpretive structures at the Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery. These proposals include altered text for gallery panels and audio tours, expanded training for docents with new participatory elements for docent-led tours, additional material for student visits and class projects, and improved and updated coverage in print and online publications. By adopting these proposals, the gallery could begin to recover the lost value of the Calvaert for religious, cultural, and art history education by bringing forward the missing elements of the history of the painting and the institution.

Disertacijoje analizuojama Lietuvos dailėje iki šiol kaip visuma netyrinėta reikšmingiausio krikščioniškojo siužeto ikonografija – Nukryžiuotasis Jėzus Kristus. Pirmą kartą sistemingai išnagrinėjus XV–XVIII a. nukryžiavimo kompozicijų ypatumus Lietuvos vaizduojamojoje dailėje, buvo išskirti šių atvaizdų ikonografiniai tipai ir, jais remiantis, sudarytas katalogas. Išskirtinis dėmesys šiame darbe teikiamas altoriniams atvaizdams, kurių prasmės įvairialypiškumas gali būti suvokiamas tik autentiškoje aplinkoje – jiems skirtuose retabuluose. Altorinio atvaizdo ir retabulo dekoro programos sąveika Lietuvos bažnytinės dailės tyrimuose nagrinėjama pirmą kartą. Nustatyta abipusė jų tarpusavio įtaka kompoziciniuose, ikonografiniuose ir prasminiuose lygmenyse. Liturginiame ir vizualiniame kontekste nukryžiavimo kompozicija galėjo būti suvokiama kaip eucharistinio Kristaus Kūno iliustracija, kaip visos Kristaus kančios, patirtos ant Golgotos kalno, sudabartinimas ir kaip asmeninis tikinčiojo dalyvavimas Atpirkėjo aukos įvykyje. Pasirinktų penkių XVII-XVIII a. retabulų atvejų studijos atskleidžia Nukryžiuotojo atvaizdo prasmių kaitą skirtingame ikonografiniame kontekste. Idėjinės šių altorių dekoro programos plėtoja Įsikūnijimo, Kryžiaus aukos, Bažnyčios įsteigimo, šventųjų kankinių išaukštinimo ir Paskutiniojo teismo dienos temas.

"The 17th – 18th Century Altars of the Crucified Christ in Lithuania: Image Meanings in the Context of the Retable Iconography"
The doctoral dissertation focuses on the iconography of the most significant Christian subject, i.e., the Crucified Jesus Christ, which has not been explored in the Lithuanian art as a whole yet. After the 15th – 18th century compositions of the Crucified Christ had been analysed, they were systematised according to the iconographic types which provided the basis for the compilation of a catalogue. In the dissertation a special attention is devoted to the altar images of the crucified Christ the versatile meaning of which can be understood only in their authentic environment, i.e., in their retables. The examination of the interplay of the retable and the altar image is the first undertaking of such a scope in the research of the Lithuanian ecclesiastical art. The mutual influence in their compositional, iconographic and semantic levels has been found. The composition of the Crucifixion in its liturgical and visual context could be perceived as the illustration of the Eucharistic Body of Christ, as the whole passion of Christ on the Golgotha made present and as a personal participation of a believer in the act of the Redeemer sacrifice. The case study of the five 17th – 18th century altars reveal the meaning shift of Crucifixion image in different iconographic context. The ideological programs of these altar decorum develop the themes of the Incarnation, the sacrifice of the Cross, the foundation of the Church, the exaltation of saint martyrs and the Last Judgment day.

This article reconstructs the Holy Land installation that Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, established in the All-Saints’ Church in Wittenberg at the beginning of the 16th century. It relates this display of relics and pilgrimage imagery to the contemporary European cult of the Holy Land, and argues that this installation played a role in Frederick’s attainment of cultural hegemony in his land. In 1517, while Frederick, using relics and indulgences, encouraged Catholic worship at All-Saints’ to a record level, Luther nailed his Theses on the doors of that church and initiated the Reformation. This article explores the different fates of Holy Land objects following the Reformation – destruction, survival or adaptation into the new Protestant iconography – and argues that they played a part in the cultural transition that held in Wittenberg. Furthermore, it discusses the significance of the Holy Land in constructing cultural values and identities for both Catholics and Protestants. Keywords: Frederick III the “Wise,” Lucas Cranach the Elder, Martin Luther, Holy Land relics and book of relics, Holy Land imagery, map of the Holy Land, pilgrimage, indulgences, Reformation, cultural hegemony.

Ο Νικόλαος Ασπιώτης είναι κυρίως γνωστός στην ελληνική ιστοριογραφία ως ο δημιουργός των αντιγράφων της Ουρανίας του Παναγιώτη Δοξαρά στο ναό του Αγίου Σπυρίδωνα στην Κέρκυρα, ενώ ελάχιστες είναι οι πληροφορίες που διαθέτουμε για τη ζωή και την περαιτέρω δράση του. Η συντηρητική τέχνη του, η σχεδόν αποκλειστικά θρησκευτική θεματογραφία του και η αδυναμία του να συμβαδίσει με τις καλλιτεχνικές εξελίξεις στο νεοσύστατο ελληνικό κράτος συντέλεσαν στον παραμερισμό του Ασπιώτη στο περιθώριο της ιστορίας της νεότερης ελληνικής τέχνης ή στην πλήρη αποσιώπηση του έργου του. Στην πραγματικότητα, ωστόσο, ο Νικόλαος Ασπιώτης υπήρξε ένας από τους παραγωγικότερους ζωγράφους της εποχής του, που αν και απέτυχε να καθιερωθεί στο ελληνικό καλλιτεχνικό στερέωμα, κατόρθωσε να αναδειχτεί έξω από τα σύνορα των Επτανήσων, στην ευρύτερη επικράτεια της Αδριατικής. Συγκεκριμένα, καθ' όλη τη διάρκεια του δεύτερου μισού του 19 ου αιώνα ο Νικόλαος Ασπιώτης ζωγράφισε πάνω από τριάντα ναούς και άφησε πολυάριθμα έργα σε μία εντυπωσιακή γεωγραφική επικράτεια που εκτείνεται από το Μαυροβούνιο και τη Δαλματία έως την ιταλική χερσόνησο. Το πελατειακό του δίκτυο περιλάμβανε ορθόδοξους οικισμούς, εκκλησιαστικά ιδρύματα και ιδιώτες, ακόμη και την ίδια τη βασιλική οικογένεια του Μαυροβουνίου. Αν και η ποιότητα της δουλειάς του κυμαινόταν ανάλογα με τις απαιτήσεις της εκάστοτε παραγγελίας, το σύνολο του έργου του διακρίνεται από τη σταθερή, σχεδόν μηχανική επανάληψη των ίδιων επιτυχημένων προτύπων. Δεν είναι τυχαίο, άλλωστε, ότι ο Ασπιώτης αποφάσισε τελικά να καταπιαστεί με τη βιομηχανική παραγωγή, ιδρύοντας στην Κέρκυρα το πρώτο μονοπωλιακό εργοστάσιο παραγωγής παιγνιοχάρτων δικού του σχεδιασμού. Στην παρούσα ανακοίνωση θα επιχειρηθεί μια πρώτη προσέγγιση του άγνωστου μέχρι σήμερα καλλιτεχνικού έργου του Νικόλαου Ασπιώτη στα Επτάνησα και την Αδριατική με στόχο την ανασύσταση των βασικών σημείων της διαδρομής του, των συνθηκών λειτουργίας του εργαστηρίου του, καθώς και την ανίχνευση πιθανών συνεργασιών με ντόπιους καλλιτέχνες και τεχνίτες στους τόπους εργασίας του. Επιπλέον, θα εξεταστεί η επίδραση της τέχνης του Ασπιώτη στη ζωγραφική του Μαυροβουνίου και θα ενταχθεί η καλλιτεχνική παραγωγή του ζωγράφου στο πλαίσιο των αμφίδρομων πολιτισμικών ανταλλαγών που διενεργούνταν στον ενιαίο θαλάσσιο χώρο του Ιονίου και της Αδριατικής, σχέσεις που είχαν καλλιεργηθεί ήδη από την εποχή της Βενετοκρατίας και επιβίωσαν μετά την κατάλυση της Γαληνότατης Δημοκρατίας. Σε αυτό το πλαίσιο θα συζητηθεί επίσης το ζήτημα της επίδρασης της επτανησιακής τέχνης, που αν και υπήρξε περιορισμένη στο νεοσύστατο ελληνικό κράτος, φαίνεται ότι ίσως ήταν εντονότερη και διαρκέστερη στις γειτονικές χώρες της Αδριατικής.

The destruction of images is a process that often produces a new imaginary, a visual spectacle in itself. Even after the original image has been obliterated, its absence can create its own powerful aesthetic that survives centuries. The article focuses on two historical case studies: the iconoclasm in Zurich in the 1520s and the National Socialist attack on so-called degenerate art. Through these, it aims to show how destruction can yield a total work of art through a carefully planned, even scripted, process that is far removed from the «lunatic running around with a sledgehammer» stereotype. It argues that many attacks on images are characterised by transformation, mysticism and performativity, during which a careful oscillation between absence and presence plays an important role. Ultimately, this contribution strives to create a new understanding of destructions of images through the frame of the Gesamtkunstwerk.

KEYWORDS Destruction of Art; Iconoclasm; Degenerate Art; National Socialism; Reformation; Zwingli; Spectacle; Audience Participation

This article in Maltese, is about a papier-mâché statue representing Christ wearing the crown of thrones. Originally, this statue formed part of the processional Good Friday statues of Cospicua. It is the work of Saverio Laferla. In the nineteenth century, this statue was donated to a small church in Fgura. During the Second World War, the church was hit and this statue suffered extreme damage but the head ‘miraculously’ survived and got stuck into a hole, created by a bomb splinter overlooking the Dockyards. After the war, this statue ended up at St. Ubaldesca Church and was used in the Good Friday Procession of Paola for two consecutive years, that is, 1971 and 1972.  It has now been restored to its former glory.

Dominican friars were vowed to a life of religious poverty, and yet by the end of the fourteenth century their churches contained many visual riches. This books seeks to understand how and why the friars accumulated and then put to use such visual wealth.

He poured out His soul unto death. "He has no form or comeliness. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. With His stripes we are healed." Isaiah (53:2)
    The prophecy "He has no form" was perhaps the inspiration of the above Crucifixion painting by the gifted artist Wadie Shenouda (1923-1969) of Alexandria, Egypt; my cousin. Using his abstract cubism style, the artist painted faces that have no particular human form, for Christ and the woman at His feet represented all humanity. That is possibly why the artist named it Shaheed el-Salaam (Martyr of Peace). It was his last work of art before his premature departure.