Religious art and architecture

The hometown of Jesus, Nazareth, is an international center of Christian pilgrimage that has capitalized on showcasing its sacred sites. Architect Antonio Barluzzi was commissioned to design Nazareth’s modern Basilica of the Annunciation in 1954, and a cornerstone for the project was laid in a well-attended ceremony. It seems that the establishment of the modern church was the catalyst for the eagerness with which the Israeli authorities approached establishing a Jewish monument in the region. In 1957, a design process for the Central Synagogue in Nazareth Illit (subsequently renamed Nof HaGalil) began, with the aim of proudly competing with the churches and mosques in the Nazareth region. Both the basilica and the synagogue were erected by Israeli construction firm Solel Boneh and were inaugurated in 1968 and 1969, respectively. This article examines the impact of the inception, establishment and building of Nazareth’s Basilica of the Annunciation on the drive to strengthen Jewish ...

Cómo citar este artículo/How to cite this article: Fernández Villalobos, N. y Jiménez Sanz, A. (2021). La disolución de los límites en el espacio religioso. La Capilla del Bosque de Heikki y Kaija Siren. Estoa. Revista de la Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de la Universidad de Cuenca, 10(19), 21-32. doi: 10.18537/est.v010. n019.a02

Resumen: Los arquitectos finlandeses Heikki y Kaija Siren levantaron en 1957 una pequeña capilla en el Campus Tecnológico de Otaniemi, expresando los vínculos nórdicos con el paisaje bajo las consignas del racionalismo naturalista. Crearon un espacio de intimidad, en medio de la naturaleza, donde los fieles pudieran ahondar en su interior. La capilla que Erik Bryggman había construido anteriormente para el Cementerio de Turku, con su paño de vidrio lateral, supuso una referencia imprescindible para la obra de los Siren. En el desarrollo de su proyecto fueron modificando la apertura hacia el paisaje hasta llegar a una secuencia espacial, repleta de matices, que comienza y acaba en el bosque. La investigación profundiza en esta obra maestra de la arquitectura moderna de posguerra y la relevancia que ha tenido en la creación de otros espacios litúrgicos coetáneos y posteriores, hasta llegar a las contemporáneas Capillas Vaticanas, donde el espacio religioso se vincula también singularmente con el lugar, disolviendo sus límites de forma significativa.
Palabras clave: espacio religioso; límites; Siren; Bryggman; Capillas Vaticanas.

Abstract:
Finnish architects, Heikki and Kaija Siren, built a small chapel in 1957 on the Otaniemi Technology Campus, expressing Nordic linkage to the landscape, under the values of naturalistic rationalism. They created a space of intimacy, in the middle of nature, where the faithful could delve inside. The chapel that Erik Bryggman had previously built for the Turku Cemetery, with its side glass screen, served as an essential reference, and the Sirens, in the development of their project, gradually modified the opening to the landscape until they reached a full spatial sequence, which begins and ends in the forest. The research deepens into this masterpiece of modern post-war architecture and the relevance it has had in the creation of other contemporary and later liturgical spaces, until reaching contemporary Vatican chapels, where the religious space is also singularly linked to the place, dissolving its limits significantly.
Keywords: religious space; boundaries; Siren; Bryggman; Vatican Chapels.

On the occasion of the opening in 2020 of the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces, stylistic trends of modern Orthodox architecture and ecclesiastical art are analyzed. It’s considered the phenomenon of the reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, its influence on the development of monumental religious painting in Russia, as well as the building the Cathedral of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church on Lubyanka. The problematic of the style of new Orthodox architecture and ecclesiastical art is formulated in terms of eclecticism (historicism) that has a programmatic symbolic meaning in the context of the “statization” of Russian art culture of the past few decades.

The use of religious images was already present in Filipino culture before the arrival of the Spaniards. With the coming of Christianity and the establishment of the Philippines as a Spanish colony, indigenous statues were replaced with Catholic images and icons, the santo. Records from the 17th to the 19th century show that missionaries relied on secular help in establishing a system of sponsorship for religious images. Those who sponsored santos were called camareros. This study aims to expand the work of Venida [1996, pp.500-513] and Galang [2012, pp.45-60], which focused on rural aristocracy and the traditional system of sponsorship for religious images established during the Spanish colonial period. Using anecdotes, personal interviews and a survey of camareros, the present study explores new systems of sponsorship for religious images in the twenty-first century, and describes the demographics, motivations, interactions, finances and santo collections of contemporary camareros.

Um die gotische Lorenz-Kirche in Nürnberg, die wohl bedeutendste Hallenkirche, ist Anfang 2021 eine Deutschland-weit und international geführte Kontroverse um geplante weitreichende profane Einbauten geführt worden, die ihren Charaker als initiatischem Sakral-Raum, aus dem Geist spätmittelalterlicher Mystik, und ihrer programmatischen architektonsichenund künstlerischen Ausgestaltung, weitgehnd zerstört hätte.  Die Pläne der Kirchengemeinde, die von der lutherischen Landeskirche - gegen namhafte innerkirchliche Bedenken - mitgetragen wurden, und die in er kirchlichen Presse begleitend propagiert wurden, sind durch entschiedenen Widerstand von Journalisten (Nürnberger Zeitung und Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) und Fachleuten aus den Bereichen des Denkmalschutzes, der Universitäten und Museen, sowie des kirchlichen Bereichs, vereitelt worden. In diesem Vortrag werden die Pläne dargestellt, und ihre bedeutung als profanierende Dekonstruktion analysiert. Dazu wird die spirituelle Semiotik der Lorenzkirche mit ihrem Programm der Mystik, als 'initiatischer Raum' dargestellt. Die Tragweite der geplanen baulichen Eingriffe, wird als  Ausdruck tiefgreifender Säkularisierung gedeutet, die auch in der Kirche manifest ist. Der erfolgreiche Widerstand, und die Kampagne, die zur Rücknahme dieser Pläne führten, wird hier dokumentiert. Die paradigmatische Bedeutung der Rücknahme dieser Pläne zu weitreichenden profanierenden Einbauten in die Lorenzkirche, wird mit Blick auf ähnliche Vorgänge unterstrichen. Die hier zutage getretene, semiotisch bestimmbare De-Signifikation, im Verständnis dieser Kirche, ist religionswissenschaftlich von systematischem Interesse.

Thiruvottiyur temple also famously known as Thyagarajar -­‐ Vadivudai Amman Temple is situated on the Northern part of Chennai, quite close to the sea shore (Bay of Bengal). The temple is a vast historical and archaeological trove and attracts not only devotees, but also scholars and researchers from all over the country. The Main deity of this temple is Aadhipureeswarar, is said to be suyambu (mud mound) in form, like a protective layer is covering him and he is not allowed to be touched by both mortals and immortals. His consort Vadivudai Amman alias Tripurasundari is a widely revered deity among the locals.
This temple has accumulated its religious richness of over several centuries and enriched by the architectural styles of various dynasties. Numerous saints and Saivite devotees are closely associated with this temple, such as Gnanasambandar, Appar, Sundarar, Adi shankarar, Pattinathar and many more. The earliest evidence of this temple appears in the Tevaram hymns sung by Gnanasambandar and Appar during the Pallava period and also we find few epigraphical records commemorating the same. At present Pallava Structures are completely missing, only few lion pillars are found inside the temple premises.
This temple has been under the patronage and extended chronologically over a vast period of time by the South Indian rulers. Recent discovery of the Parantaka Chola inscription proves the continuation from Pallava to Chola. The present temple is a complete contribution of Cholas, Vijayanagara and Nayaka rulers. We also find interesting ancient sculptures and architectural features which are still alive, inside the temple.

Published : International Journal of Law and Social Sciences (March 2016)

Στο: : Ι. Στουφή-Πουλημένου, Στ. Μαμαλούκος (επιμ.), Ε΄ Επιστημονικό Συμπόσιο Νεοελληνικής Εκκλησιαστικής Τέχνης. Πρακτικά. Αθήνα, Πολεμικό Μουσείο, 15-16 Δεκεμβρίου 2017. Αθήνα: Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών – Θεολογική Σχολή –Τμήμα Θεολογίας, 219-231.

Soon after hunter gatherers initiated plowing up gardens and practicing farming in the lands located between Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, this place called Mesopotamia (meaning between rivers) became well-suited for permanent settlement and became famous as birthplace of civilizations (qtd in Apte. 7). This region that today includes Iraq, northeast Syria, and part of southeast Turkey, also known as Fertile Crescent hosted development of several civilizations and became to be known as Cradle of civilizations (qtd in Apte. 5).

The conception of the ahl al-bayt, "people of the house," "family," or "household" of the Prophet Muhammad plays a vital role in Islamic thought and piety. In the tashahhud portion of the ritual prayers, Muslims of all persuasions supplicate daily, "O God! Bless Muhammad and his family (al), as you blessed Abraham and his family." This article examines the notion of the ahl al-bayt in the Quran, the Prophetic tradition, and in Muslim thought spanning many geographical regions and time periods.

An American professor leads a group of hundreds of architects from around the world who claim that ancient buildings such as the Parthenon, the Hagia Sophia or the pyramids in Egypt were built according to ancient wisdom that may be the key to a better future for humanity.

This paper focuses on the Via Crucis tradition and its artworks in the Philippines, during the Spanish, American and post-war years. The paper starts with a history of the Via Crucis tradition in Philippine context, followed by its different typologies applied across several geographical locations, as well as highlights on several unique and interesting features and histories on select collections. The paper also briefly states a few observations of the changes of the Via Crucis tradition in recent times, and makes a number of recommendations for further research and documentation of the Via Crucis as an artform and as a practice.

The elaborate Major sakkos of Metropolitan Photios of Russia (1408-31) is one of the finest surviving examples of medieval liturgical vestments.  In this paper, the shape, architectonics, and decoration of this canopy-like object is compared to the church and to the holy tent known from Mosaic traditions, thereby raising questions of materiality and conceptual framing of the sacred.  By analyzing ritual performance within a Byzantine-rite church and practices of defining sacred space with specific materials, this paper suggests the transferability of the architectonics of textile and masonry canopies into sakkos.  When Metropolitan Photios wore this conspicuously superb “garment of glory and beauty,” he reenacted the “living icon of Christ,” Jesus as the High Priest, and His mystical re-birth in the sanctuary.  Within this “spatial living icon,” the sakkos framed the ritual and spiritual transformation of the human body as well as the dynamics within the performative spaces of God’s manifestations.

he publication retains a catalogue-like structure already used for earlier books of “Lithuanian Religious Art” which is considered by the authors of this book to be the most consistent and convenient way to introduce the heritage of each church and chapel. The book includes all items of arts and crafts with artistic, historical, typological or other value that have been found during expeditions because the authors follow a modern approach to the research of religious art which states that the artistic value cannot be the only and determining criteria of the item`s value. A comprehensive research of the history, architecture and artistic heritage of Šiauliai Deanery published in the first book substantially adds to the history of this land and its culture – a catholic culture first of all. It allows discerning some general features of historic development and artistic expression typical for this Northern Lithuanian region in addition to the revelation of the unique destinies of each church and chapel, architectural peculiarities and properties of interior ensembles and individual art works. It is the local history and clergymen, parishioners, customers and masters who lived and worked here who essentially determined and formed the diversity of architectural and artistic heritage which has survived in the region.

This article is an attempt to analyse the reconstruction process of the eighteenth-century Norbertine monastery in Imbramowice destroyed by a conflagration in 1710 and being rebuilt for almost thirty years. The researchers considered the monastery and its church as an example of the bel composto which was projected by a Polish architect Kacper Bażanka who was educated in Rome and founded by bishop Kazimierz Łubieński. The sources record that the bishop’s visits’ documentation, an eighteenth-century chronicle wrote by the Norbertine abbess Zofia Gorthówna and the nineteen letters by monastery commissioner Dominik Lochman, provide new facts about the monastery in Imbramowice. The information included in the chronicle and the letters allowed for the recostruction of an organisational issues as well as the circumstances connected with building a new monastery, the direction and organisation of the „factory” and queries related to the monastery’s financing and individuals involved in the erection. As a result, the research allowed to consider the rebuilding of the monastery in Imbramowice as a complex and multi-faceted process, created through support from many founders and closely associated with the Cracovian bishop’s power.

На аснове архіўных крыніц прасочваюцца асаблівасці інтэр'ераў уніяцкіх храмаў Пружанскага грэка-каталіцкага дэканату Уладзіміра-Брэсцкай епархіі ў сярэдзіне 18 ст. Закранаюцца пытанні наяўнасці іканастасаў і прысценных алтароў. Выяўляюцца асаблівасці функцыянавання абразоў у сакральнай прасторы ўніяцкіх храмаў

In this chapter, I consider the significance of hermeneutics for architecture. I begin by locating some key concerns that a hermeneutics of buildings and other architectural works entails. As a heuristic context for discussing these concerns, I draw on comparative-religion scholar Lindsay Jones’ The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture, a two-volume work that is perhaps the most exhaustive recent effort to identify the diverse, multi-dimensioned ways in which an “architectural hermeneutics” might proceed (Jones 2000).
        I identify two major research dilemmas toward which Jones’ work points: first, the contentious question of whether buildings-in-themselves, as opposed to the personal, social, and cultural experiences and meanings of those buildings, can be examined hermeneutically; and, second, the difficult matter of interpretive trustworthiness. If, in other words, one assumes that buildings evoke divergent meanings for different experiencers and interpreters, how is he or she to evaluate the relative accuracy and validity of competing interpretations?
        As evidence of a hermeneutic approach that might circumvent these two interpretive concerns, I discuss two significant efforts to generate what might be called a hermeneutics of the language of architecture: first, philosopher Karsten Harries’ language of natural symbols; and, second, architect Thomas Thiis-Evensen’s language of architectural archetypes. I consider the relative interpretive power of these two hermeneutic languages to describe accurately and non-arbitrarily the lived experience of “buildings-in-themselves.”

Es evidente que el templo actual, al igual que el generado a lo largo de las distintas épocas de la historia, ha de dar respuesta al hombre concreto al que trata de servir, a su vivencia de la fe y a su expresión de la comunión con Dios y los hombres. Centrándonos en la época contemporánea, el templo queda determinado a partir de unas  concepciones y categorías teológicas específicas que lo fundamentan. Por ello, es necesario trazar una explicitación, reflexión y puesta en relación de distintos aspectos que se desprenden del análisis y estudio de lo que se constituye como la identidad de la arquitectura religiosa contemporánea a partir de los principios teológicos que están tras ella y que la fundamentan.

Light is the central theme of sacred architecture of all religions and so of Christianity. The aim of this paper is to emphasize the inner sense of light and its constitutive role in Christian sacred architecture. The theme of light in Christian sacred architecture is fundamentally connected to its meaning and symbolism of light in Christian theology and liturgy. This fundamental connection is opening the space to the symbolic and theological comprehending of light which was present throughout the history of Christianity and which is lacking in contemporary sacred architecture.

🔗 https://bit.ly/3y23sjN
"Iconographica" is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the study of images in their historical, cultural and religious contexts. It promotes new and interdisciplinary approaches to images going beyond the traditional framework of iconographic studies and aims at shaping new methodologies in this field. It welcomes essays investigating the role played by images in mediating material and symbolic forms of cultural communication, in conveying a human group's shared perception of power, behavioral codes, philosophical and religious notions.
📚
Index of Iconographica XX (2021): P. Tichá, In the Underground of the Eternal City: the Hypogeum of Via Livenza - A. Capitanio, Il contenuto visivo del dittico di Areobindo della cattedrale di Lucca: un’ipotesi di interpretazione - G. Puma - M. A. Rossi, Metapitture e iconografia delle esequie dei santi nel tardo Medioevo fra Bisanzio e l’Italia - D. E. Delarue, Um die Ecke erzählt. Ein Pariser Elfenbeinkästchen mit der Legende des heiligen Eustachius - K. Navrátilová - S. Rosenbergová, To Die and be Resurrected with Christ: The Milan Passion Diptych and Its Function in the Baptismal Rite - S. Carro Martín, Entre el arte y la devoción: estudio global del certificado de peregrinación islámica Add. MS 27566 (s. XV) - J.-L. Vega, I beati Delphine ed Elzéar di Sabran lungo il bacino del Mediterraneo - T. De Giorgio, L’ago e la spina. Precisazioni sull’affresco di età angioina con la Madonna operosa della basilica di Santa Chiara a Napoli - A. Costa, Pittura, predicazione, teatro. La Salita al Calvario di Sant’Antonio di Ranverso e le sue fonti visive - B. Baert, The New Lamb and the Iconic Gaze - L. Mascheretti, Bramante “petrarchesco”. Riflessioni sul fregio maggiore dell’incisione Prevedari - G. Russo, Per l’iconografia della Madonna Liberatrice di Santa Maria libera nos a poenis inferni al Foro Romano e per il suo culto in Italia e in Spagna tra XVI e XVII secolo - A. Spiriti, Fra Tesauro e Muratori: le scelte iconografiche del ciclo Carignano del Legnanino - Authors and Photocredits. Instructions to Authors.
"Iconographica" is also available online: www.mirabileweb.it

La storia del monastero veneziano per cui Andrea Palladio disegnò il celebre progetto ispirato alla domus antica è qui indagata dalla fondazione nel dodicesimo secolo ai restauri ottocenteschi successivi alla soppressione. Dell´invenzione palladiana è offerta una lettura approfondita che ne esamina le circostanze, le motivazioni e i significati, sia dal punto di vista del progettista, sia dei committenti. Le vicende del monastero, ripercorse sulla base di uno studio sistematico delle fonti, oltre a rievocare il mondo gravitante intorno alla chiesa della Carità e a ricostruire la storia dei canonici lateranensi, chiariscono aspetti rilevanti del progetto di Palladio e questioni generali relative alla storia e alla storiografia architettonica, gettando nuova luce sulla storia artistica, sociale ed ecclesiastica della stessa città di Venezia.

У статті розглядаються особливості художнього трактування апостольського й пророчого рядів іконостасу на етапі виразних стилістичних змін в українському релігійному мистецтві ХУІІІ ст. Зокрема, було проаналізовано, якою мірою згадані образи піддавалися новаціям, яким були окремі образотворчі " прототипи " в циклах Долинського. Ключові слова: апостоли і пророки, іконостас, Лука Долинський, образотворчі прототипи, виразність. Mariana Levytska (The Ethnology Institute UNAS, Lviv) Representation of the Apostles and Prophets in the Luka Dolynskyy' Iconostasis Cycles (the end of 18 th-beginning of 19 th cc.): in Search of Intentions The article deals with specific features of the Apostles and Prophets artistic interpretation during distinct stylistic changes in Ukrainian religious art of the 18 th c. In particular were analyzed to what extent this images have been renewed. Also particular artistic " prototype " in the Dolynskyy' cycles were discovered.