Visual Arts and Liturgy
2004 New York, New York
2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
Convener 2004
Carol Frenning (a liturgical design consultant, adjunct faculty at the University of Saint Thomas in Minneapolis, and vice chair IFRAA/AIA)
Seminar Participants 2004
Seminar members: Mark Joseph Costello, Capuchin; Rev. Karina Ramins; James W. Moudry; James Notebaart
Visitors: Catherine A. Kapikian, D. Foy Christopherson
Seminar Report 2004
Our work at this initial seminar focused on the use of images on liturgical objects. Site visits to the Cloisters and the Metropolitan Museum of Art allowed us to view and discuss historical objects normally available only through two-dimensional reproductions. These objects included chalices, processional crosses, pixes, and tabernacles. The placement and image content were discussed in relationship to ritual use and historic/community context. A paper presentation (see below) on the history of paschal candle stands focused on one of the candle stands which we viewed at the Cloisters and through it raised questions for discussing design potential for today. Time was spent in discussion of possible future topics for exploration by this seminar.
Papers
Mark Joseph Costello presented “Image and Object, Paschal Candle Stands Reflecting Ritual and Belief,” an illustrated paper that traced the history of the use of paschal candles and their imagery. Noting historical shifts in emphasis concerning the meaning of the candle rituals of the Easter Vigil, the paper also focused on the imagery found in Exsultet scrolls and paschal candle stands. The large Spanish medieval paschal candlestick located in the Cloisters Museum in New York was presented. This piece includes eighteen painted panels with carved gilded tracery. A post-Vatican II paschal candle stand at St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral in San Francisco by Enrico Manifrini was also examined for its wealth of imagery. In closing, he presented a current candle stand’s design in an art program which is the collaboration between two artists. Costello ended the paper and a discussion continued the question: What might be the potential for imagery—on and around liturgical objects—that unveils aspects of the mysteries that we celebrate?
Other work of the seminar
Those present at the seminar affirmed the need for a discussion forum that connects visual arts and liturgy in all its aspects—objects, applied arts, ritual environment, its presentation in seminary education, as well as use in local worship settings.