The works of art hanging over ornate altars and displayed in crowded halls are of great theological significance and have even inspired revolutions in artistic expression. To the casual observer, however, some of the lessons of these masterpieces remain mysterious as they become less well known over the passage of centuries.
“La nuit des églises” has become a must-go-to event in recent years for many French Catholics and those wanting to experience the beauty of the country’s Christian heritage.
Great artists have used color and shape, shadow and light, to present their own interpretation of the Last Supper. They have frozen the scene in a single image, filled with nuance and symbolism.
Over the years, Tildy Ellis has created large Nativity sets for parishes, such as St. Mary’s Cathedral and St. John the Baptist in Collegeville.
This year’s encounter combined a warm appreciation of the late Pope Benedict XVI with an exhibit explaining 19th-century German philosopher and polemicist Friedrich Nietzsche.
When the painting can be seen at the altar during Mass, the genius of Caravaggio’s composition truly comes through, most importantly “the relationship between Christ’s body and him alive in the Eucharist.”
“Every pope is different like every person is different in this world,” artist Igor Babailov said. “Pope Benedict, one of the important things about him, we all know, is he was a theologian, a scholar, an educator, and I wanted somehow to portray that.”
St. Michael Parish in Motley hosts “Pulchritudo: A Celebration of Beauty in Catholic Music and Art” on Wednesday, Dec. 28.
