A 10 x 8 foot crucifix, created by artists Martin Earle and Jim Blackstone at the Chichester Workshop of Liturgical Art, has been awarded the Grand Prize at the 2023 Sacred Art Prize.
It was commissioned by St Mary’s Cathedral in Aberdeen and has been has been designed to hang from the cathedral's chancel arch directly above its large altar.
Images: © Martin Earle 2023
Run by the Catholic Art Institute, the Sacred Art Prize is an annual Catholic sacred art competition and online exhibition awarding and recognising artists who create devotional work. The Jurors made their selections from over 388 submissions from nineteen countries.
The winning artwork, which is double sided, is made with the traditional ‘egg tempera’ technique in which fine natural earth and mineral pigments are mixed with water and egg yolk and built up in thin layers over a timber panel. The background is in burnished gold.
Commenting on the artwork, the Jurors said:
“The San Damiano Crucifix is a new, beautiful and highly-skilled contribution to a centuries-long Franciscan tradition of depicting Christ’s Sacrifice while expounding on its deeper meanings in the adjacent, appended panels. This work combines the fine and allied arts to achieve a radiant, magnificent, unified whole.”
Based in South Harting, and working with Chichester Cathedral, the Chichester Workshop for Liturgical Art establishing itself as an international centre for the production and teaching of traditional liturgical art. Using skills and material that have been employed since the early centuries of the Christian Church, the three artists currently involved in the Workshop, Jim, Martin and Aidan Hart, are working on commissions across a broad range of traditional media from people all over the world and across the Christian traditions.
Whether making crucifixes, icons, altars or croziers for use in worship, the Workshop also seeks – through apprenticeships – to sustain these ancient artistic traditions for future generations.
The Crucifix will be installed in St Mary's Catholic Cathedral, Aberdeen, UK. St. Mary’s is currently fundraising to be able to install this crucifix as part of a project to re-order the sanctuary. If you are able to help, please click here>>
