Ars Sacra
Sacred Art & Architecture
Pulchritudo Tam Antiqua
Christ Pantocrator
Encaustic on panel, Sinai — the earliest surviving icon of Christ.
Apse of San Vitale
Ravenna — Justinian and his court in shimmering gold tesserae.
Romanesque Tympanum
Vézelay — the Pentecost rendered in carved Burgundian stone.
Gothic Illuminated Psalter
Gold leaf and lapis on vellum — an initial inhabited by vine and beast.
Gregorian Antiphonary
Square neumes on a four-line stave — the Church’s memory made visible.
Renaissance Sacra Conversazione
Tempera and gold ground — the Virgin enthroned amid the saints.
Baroque Ceiling
Il Gesù, Rome — the heavens torn open in dizzying trompe-l’œil.
Polyphonic Gradual
Oversized vellum folios for a whole choir — Palestrina in manuscript.
Gothic Cathedral Interior
Chartres — light through stained glass falling on the nave floor.
Gothic Monstrance
Silver-gilt and rock crystal — a reliquary architecture in miniature.