Pope Benedict XVI on Architecture
Quotes on architecture by Pope Benedict XVI.
Seeking the Light of True Faith: Homily from the Reopening of the Pauline Chapel
Today, a few days after the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul and the conclusion of the Pauline Year, my wish to reopen the Pauline Chapel for worship is fulfilled. We have taken part in solemn celebrations in honour of the two Apostles in the Papal Basilicas of Saint Paul and Saint Peter. This evening, to complete them, as it were, we gather in the heart of the Apostolic Palace, in the Chapel desired by Pope Paul III and designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, the place of prayer reserved for the Pope and the Pontifical Family. The paintings and decorations adorning this chapel particularly the two large frescoes by Michelangelo Buonarotti which were the last works of his long life are especially effective in encouraging meditation and prayer. They depict the conversion of Paul and the crucifixion of Peter.
Editorial: Pulchritudo Tam Antiqua et Tam Nova
Part of the history of art and architecture is the revivification of elements found in the past. Sometimes this is a matter of continuity, while at other times the elements are referenced in order to associate the new work with a building or a historical period. The twentieth-century Liturgical Movement sought a return to the liturgy of antiquity and viewed developments dating from the medieval period or Counter-Reformation as unnecessary accretions or decadences.
The People or the Steeple? An Examination of Sacramental Architecture among Parishioners
Designs among Catholic churches in the post-Vatican II era have been diverse. These changes have evoked strong opinions in both those advocating newer styles and those desiring a traditional approach to church design. Objective inquiries into this issue have been lacking since the council adjourned in 1965. Filling this data gap in the discussion requires empirical studies about how Catholic church design affects the faithful regarding prayer, devotion, and other communal factors.
Awe for the Noble Things: Leon Battista Alberti and the Meaning of Classical Architecture
Churches such as Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome that were built by adapting pagan Roman building practices served the early Christian community, and these churches continued to guide construction south of the Alps right up to the Renaissance. In the meantime, north of the Alps, bishops and princes who sought a larger role in the Church developed Gothic architecture. Not surprisingly, it never took hold south of the Alps except for a few places in northern Italy.
In the resurgence of the papacy that began in 1417 following the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism, the Church reasserted the authority it claimed from its foundation in Rome by Saints Peter and Paul. The new buildings in Rome and elsewhere in Italy, both sacred and secular, were aggressively ancient in their form, their builders excoriating the Gothic as modern and barbarous. In 1506, to make the point that the Church was being rebuilt on its ancient foundations, the Basilica of Saint Peter that the emperor Constantine had built was torn down. During the century that followed the classical basilica we know today rose in its place.
