Praxiteles

Drawing of old St. Peter’s Basilica, built in 333 replacement by new St. Peter’s begun by Julius II in 1505 and completed in 1649 (Jacopo Grimaldi, 1619, Brabarini Lat. 2733 fol 104v – 105r)

Below are two images of internal facade of Old St. Peter’s Basilica which was built in 333 and demolished in 1608. The first is taken from G.B. Falda’s (Descrizione fatta della chiesa antica e moderna di San Pietro pubklished in 1673. It shows the internal facade of the Basilica which was covered by a mosaic, What is interesting, from our poit of view, is the seated figure of Christ over the central window on the top range. He is seated, right hand extended in blessing with a book in the left hand. He is flanked by St. Peter and St. Paul and by the tetramorphai -or four beasts- representing the four Evangelists. Underneath, appear to be the figures of the Four Evangelists. Benewth them, in the centre, two figures offering bowls of insense -representing prayer- to Christ. The whole scene is surmounted by the Cross. As with Santa Pudenziana, the theme of the mosaic on the facade of Old St. peter’s was the divinity of Christ and that worship (prayer) was due to him as God.

The second image of the facade is taken from Martino Ferrabroso’s, Il libro dell’architettura di San Pietro, Roma, published in 1620. It gives an idea of the impression this great mosaic would have made on pilgrims entering the Basilica through its cortile.

I have given some attention to this mosaic beacuse it represents the same basic themse as the mosaic in Santa Pudentiana. However, it was far more influential than that of Santa Pidenziana because it was seen by every Christian who made the pilgrimage to Rome. Hence, it can be regarded as one of the reasons for the propagation of this image of Christ throughout Europe in late classical period. Unfortunately, it is no longer extant and drawings of it are difficult to find – but I am hoping to come up with something better than these.

Back to tympana and the decorative theme of Crist enthroned, surrounded by the tetramorphoi and the twelve Apostles. We have seen that the vesrion in the tympanum of the West Portal in Cobh (posting # ) is directly related to the tympanum of the Royal Portal at Chartres, which in turn, has its immediate iconographic prototypes in the Romanesque tympana, especially those associated with Burgundy and the Cluniac reform, depicting Christ enthroned, surrounded with the tetramorphoi, the Apostles and the Prophets. The earliest extant embyonic example is that of the West Portal of the Priory of St. Fortunat at Charlieu dating from about 1090. It depicts the enthroned Christ, in aureole supported by Angels. Although the type is associated wih Cluny and the investiture crisis, it too has a long art-typical history bringing us to Rome and the Basilica of Santa Pudenziana where we find the earliest extant example of Christ seated in glory, surrounded by the Apostles, the tetramorphoi, and surmounted by his victorious Cross. The mosaic dates from about 390 A.D..

A drawing of the mosaic reconstructing its original state.

The mosaic as preserved to-day.

“This mosaic is important for its iconography. It is the earliest surviving decorated Christian apse which takes us back to the period of classical revival in Rome. This mosaic was heavily restored during the Renaissance and the nineteenth c., but the Christ in the center is not changed, thus, in terms of style we have to look at Christ for analysis.

There is a high degree of classicism in the proportions, modeling, ease and movement, linearity has not yet quite taken hold. Thus we see a union of the old naturalism and the symbolism taking hold in the fifth century.

The subject is Christ teaching the apostles in front of heavenly Jerusalem.

The landscape behind him may be directly related to a reproduction of the Holy Sepulchre – Church built over Christ’s tomb in Jerusalem. The cross is symbolic of the true cross erected on Golgatha (hill on which Christ was crucified).

The four evangelists (gospel writers) are in their animal symbolic form. The iconography can be traced back to the Old Testament when Ezekial saw a vision in heaven of the four beasts spreading the word of the Gospel. It is also found in the book of Revelations. Matthew is the winged angel, Mark is the Lion, Luke is the Ox or bull, and John is the Eagle. Until the fourth c. the relationship between animal symbols and those whom they represented was not fixed.

Peter and Paul are being crowned by female figures who symbolize the church of the Jews behind Peter on the right, and the church of the Gentiles, behind Paul, originally there were 12 apostles, only ten can now be seen, due to restorations.

Again we see naturalism mixing with great symbolism of the Early Christian period. This naturalism will fade, the emphasis will become purely spiritual, other worldly, purposely making no or little reference to our natural world”.

Barry Byrne was born on December 19, 1883. His father, Charles Emmett Byrne, a native of Prince Edward Island, worked as a railroad blacksmith. His mother Mary Barry Delaney, was a native of Chicago but had family connections to Co. Wexford, Ireland.

Byrne always saw his father as miscast in his role as blacksmith. At home, Charles Emmett Byrne, read Shakespeare aloud and wrote poetry of his own. At the age of 10, Byrne came across an architectural book in a library and from that point onward, knew that he wanted to be an architect. Having seen his fathers own thwarted ambitions, Barry Byrne became determined to fulfill his dream.

In 1897, his father was killed by a locomotive, leaving behind his wife and six children. Mary Byrne remained determined to rear her family despite the misfortunes that were ahead. This strength of character encouraged Barry Byrne and in later life would help him as he too faced the harsh reality of running an architects office.

At the age of 14, Byrne left St. Columcille Parochial School to work in the mail order rooms of Montgomery Ward. His inner ambition to realise his dream of becoming an architect made these times very difficult for the teenager. His escape was to ride the trolley cars of Chicago all day Sunday, visiting the Art Institute and libraries and to indulge himself in reading, a practice he would continue all his life.

On one Sunday afternoon in 1902, Byrne’s life changed forever when on one of his regular visits to the Chicago Art Institute, he saw an exibition of the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. The impression the work made on Byrne, was so powerful that he presented himself at Wright’s Oak Park studio and fortunately got a job.

Frank Lloyd Wright had no great love of formal education and the fact that Barry Byrne had not finished his 9th grade, was not of importance. Wright saw in Byrne, the same love and enthusiasm for architecture he too had experienced in his youth.

The early years at Oak Park were prolific and many of the most famous of Wrights buildings were designed, including the Unity Temple and Coonley house. Barry Byrne is known to have worked on the drawings of the Unity Temple, and this is where his thoughts on Roman Catholic church design began. By 1908, an affair between Wright and one of his clients caused the frequent absence of the architect and the office became dis-functional. With an increasingly difficult situation at hand, Byrne felt his post was serving no purpose and left the studio.

Between 1908 and 1913 Byrnes’ main work was in a three year partnership with Andrew Willatzen. During that time, more than twenty buildings were designed by the architects. However differences in opinion led to a mutual agreement to dissolve the partnership. Willatzen continued the practice alone until his retirement.

In 1913, Walter Burley Griffin won a three year contract in Canberra, Australia and asked Byrne to takeover his practice in Chicago while he was away. This was Barry Byrne’s first chance to use his own ideas and autonomy. Projects during this period include the Sam Schneider House and Melson Tomb, Mason City Iowa.

In 1915, Byrne established his own practice in Chicago. Of particular note during this period was the commission for a house for J.F.Clarke in Fairfield Iowa and commission for the J.T. Kenna apartments, Chicago. The design of both buildings shows Byrne clearly breaking from the Prairie School ideas and developing his own distinct style.

Having returned to Chicago from a brief WWI army duty, Byrne continued with his practice in Chicago. It was from this point onward that his ideas and work flourished. The first large building contract was for the Immaculata High School, Chicago, 1921 followed soon afterward by his first ecclesiastical commission, Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, Chicago. By 1924, the Western Architect was publishing articles on his work and praise from renowned critic Lewis Mumford in his writings for Commonweal, brought the architect to the attention of the Catholic clergy as far away as Ireland.

In 1926, Byrne married artist Annette Cremin, who was originally introduced to him by Alfonso Iannelli. They would eventually have three children; Annette Cremin, Cathaleen Mary and Patrick Barry. Annette’s influence on her husbands work is well noted. She regularly drew artists impressions of his designs and in some cases designed the interior colour patterns for some of his buildings and churches. By the end of the 20’s, Barry Byrne had designed four churches, a hospital, several unbuilt projects and some six schools. The business had also expanded with the addition of a construction company. However the stock market crash of 1929 caused a strong lull in the construction industry and the practice and construction company was closed.

Byrne moved to New York in the early thirties and supplemented the limited work as a building inspector and by writing articles for various publications. Work began to revive toward the late thirties and once again things began to look good. However with America’s entry to WWII, Byrne was again forced to scale down his business and work solely as a building inspector.

In 1945, at the age of 62, Byrne returned to Chicago where until semi-retirement in 1953, he continued work and designed four more churches among other smaller projects. The work during these years was again second to none, with such masterpieces as Church of St. Francis Xavier, Kansas City and St. Benedict’s Abbey, Atchison. From 1952 to 1959, he continued to work occasionally until his final project at the age of 79, where he designed a library for St. Procopius College, Illinois. He died in 1967.

Artists are often remembered for their work and talents. The many churches and buildings that Byrne designed will no doubt prove to be a lasting testimony to a gifted architect. However too often, do we lose grasp of the person himself. In our searches, we came across the web site of Stafford James, a Jazz bassist. At the age of 14, Stafford had the pleasure of working as a tracer for Barry Byrne and today, he regards Barry Byrne as one of the most important influences in his life.

With kind permission from Stafford James himself, the following is his personal account and testimony to Barry Byrne:

Dear sirs,

thank you for your e-mail pertaining to Mr. Barry Byrne. To answer your question, Mr. Byrne for me was one of those great inspirations in my life that to this day his ability to share with his fellow human beings has left an indelible mark in my life. When Mr. Byrne took me into his small atelier I was a young boy of 14 years. Each summer I would trace for him and during the year he would give me special projects to work on. He instilled in me the relationship of man and nature, as one can see in his work. At age 17, I won the Rotary International Award for Architecture that was inspired by my years of working for Mr. Byrne.

As I had come from a single parent upbringing, Mr. Byrne gave me so much that has helped me in life. Above all he taught me to always keep my vision on the objective idea even though there will always be those who will not have the vision to pursue the idea to its completion. Although today, as for the past 30+ years, I compose and perform music, it is still with the lessons that I have learned from another artist that have kept the creative flame lit. Barry Byrne’s humanity is something that very few people will know when describing his genius but I am very honored to have in my lifetime known a person such as him.

Sincerely,

Stafford JAMES
(http://www.staffordjames.com)

>> Chicago Illinois (1922)

G]http://www.turnerscross.com/[/IMG]

Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926)

Thanks Gianlorenzo for that picture of the Choir in the Chapel of the Convent of Mercy in Baggot Street. I had been looking for that for a while. This is another example of Richard Hurley’s antiphonal absurdity – this time exaggerated by the presence of the original choir stalls along the walls of the gutted remains of the Chapel. I am preparing some material on the question of “antiphonal” spacial arrangements and hope to post it soon. With any luck, it should demonstrate just how nonsensical the Hurley invention is.

Yes, BTH, you are perfectly correct in thinking that Richard Hurley is the architect responsible for destruction of St Mary and St Anne’s in Cork and of ST. Mary’s Oratory in Maynooth. The Augustinian church in Galway looks like being the victim of yet anoth application of RH’s clapped out faux “antiphonal” formula. Be thankful, however, that the principle items of furnishing (the High Altar) has escaped the junk heap. In the not too distant future RH’s rubbish can be dumped out the door and some liturgical order restored to the church.

The dominant influence on iconography in the 17th entury Seville school was Francisco Pacheo (1564.-1654), the father in law of Velasquez. In 1649, he published a definitive treatise on painting, El Arte de la Pintura. His comments on the painting on the Immaculate Conception are the direct source of the sculpted group in the arcade of the attic of the South Transept of Cobh Cathedral. The following are his comments on the painting of the subject: “Some say that (the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady) should be painted with the image of the Christ Child in her arms because she appears thus on some old images that have been found. The opinion is probably based ( as the learned Jesuit Father Alonso de Flores has pointed out) on the fact that Our Lady enjoyed freedom from Original Sin from the very first moment, since she was the Mother of God, even though she had not yet concieved Jesus Christ. Hence from this moment (as the saints know) she was the Mother of God, nor did she ever cease to be. But without taking issue with those who paint the Child in her arms, we side with the majority who paint her without the Child.

This painting, as scholars know, is derived from the mysterious woman whom St.John saw in the sky wiith all her attributes [Revelations XII,1-4]. Therefore, the version I follow is the one that is closest to the holy revelation of the Evangelist and approved by the Catholic Church on the authority of the sacred and holy interpreters. In Revelation she is not only found without the Child in her arms, but even before she ever bore him….We paint her with the Child only in those scenes that occur afer she conceived…

In this loveliest of mysteries Our Lady should be painted as a beautiful young girl, twelve or thirteen years old, in the flower of her youth. She should have pretty but serious eyes with perfect features and rosy cheeks, and the most beautiful long golden locks. In short, she should be as beautiful as a painter’s brush can make her. There are two kinds of human beauty, beauty of the body and beauty of the soul, and the Virgin had both of them in the extreme because her body was a miracolous creation. She resembled her Son, the model of all perfection, more than any other human being. ,,and thus she is praised by her Spouse: tota pulchra es amica mea, a text that is always written in this painting.

She should be painted wearing a white tunic and a blue mantle…She is surrounded by the sun, an oval sun of white and ochre, which sweetly blends into the sky. Rays of light emanate from her head, around which is a ring of twelve stars. An imperial crown adrons her head without, however, hiding the stars. Undr her feet is the moon. Although it is a solid globe, I take the liberty of making it transparent so that the landscape shows through. The upper part is darkened to form a crescent moon with the points turned downward. Unless I am mistaken, I believe I was the first to impart greater majesty to these attributes, and others have followed me.

Especially with the moon I have followed the learned opinion of Father Luis del Alcazar, famous son of Seville, who says: ‘Painters usually show the crescent moon upside down at the feet of this woman. But as is obvious to learned mathematicians, if the moon and sun face each other, both points of the moon have to point downward. Thus the woman will stand on a convex instead of a concave surface…’. This is necessary so that the moon, receiving its light from the sun, will illuminate the woman standing on it….

In the upper part of the painting one usually puts God the Father or the Holy Spirit or both, together with the already mentioned words of her Spouse. The earthly attributes are placed suitably in the landscape; the heavenly attributes can be placed, as you wish, among the clouds. Seraphim or angels can also hold some of the attributes. It slipped my mind completely to mention the dragon, our common enemy, whose head the Virgin broke when she triumphed over original sin. In fact I always forget him, because the truth is that I never willingly paint him, and omit him whenever I can in order not to embarrass my picture with his presence. But painters are free to improve on everything I have said”.

Given what has been laid bare about Irish church architecture in this thread over the past while, I am a astounded by the fact the one of Bartolome Esteban Murillo’s major patrons was an Irish man, from Dublin: Fra Francisco Gough y Fletcher Morgan Cabeza de Vaca! Murillo was one of the greatest devotional painters of all times, especially in his later years when he produced ingratiating compositions that inspire gentle, pious feelings. His pictures are unendumbered by recondite allegorical allusions or references. They are easily accessible and comprehended. ,

Bartolome Esteban Murillo’s versions of 1678, 1665, 1645, del Prado,.

A final portal, this time the tympan of the Abbey of St. Mary Magdelan at Vézelay depicting Penntecost and the Mission of the Church, executed 1125-1130.

Re #311 is this the original colour scheme for the organ pipes or is a recent innovation?

Re. #308: in what amounts to an ecclesial statement, the answer to that question must be no.