Virginia Raguin is Distinguished Professor of Humanities Emeritus at the College of the Holy Cross. Among her many books is Stained Glass: From Its Origins to the Present and Stained Glass: Radiant Art.
Anthony Visco’s article on Marko Rupnik in the recent issue of Sacred Architecture raised many questions. It addressed a tragic story of abuse within the Church. Yet it also addressed the issue of artistic and doctrinal validity of a work of art, linking the maker’s personal failings to the work.
In 1842, Father Edward Sorin of the Congregation of Holy Cross began both a school and a parish in the mission that was known as Notre Dame du Lac.
Renaissance art was essentially public art, even as it was commissioned by single individuals and religious and civic organizations.
In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, buildings carried great narrative themes, on the exterior by sculpture and on the interior by glass and wall painting.