Credo
On sacred art and its makingSacred art is not decoration with a religious subject. Decoration pleases and then releases the eye; sacred art must hold attention and direct it beyond itself. The distinction lies less in appearance than in obedience to a tradition that already knows what an object is for. [PLACEHOLDER — Credo essay, 800–1200 words to follow.]
The fine arts are rightly classed among the noblest activities of man’s genius; this is especially true of religious art and of its highest achievement, sacred art.
Sacrosanctum Concilium, 122
Iconography is a language, not a catalogue of symbols. A lily, an arch, a particular arrangement of twelve settings each carry meaning only within the continuity of the tradition. Contemporary expression does not mean inventing a new vocabulary; it means speaking the inherited one without archaism.
Material is never neutral. Silver that touches the Precious Blood, the rock crystal that guards a relic, the gold of a ring of office: each is chosen for what it signifies and for how it ages. A sacred object must survive its maker and grow more itself with use.
The vessel exists for the rite, never the reverse. Form, inscription and proportion are decided by the moment of liturgy they serve. This is why the work begins in study and ends only at the blessing. [PLACEHOLDER — complete remaining sections.]