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In
1959
,
construction
began to rebuild
the church in
Nazareth
.
Nazareth
is the town where
Mary and Joseph
lived when they
received the
news that
she
would
bear a son
named Jesus
.
If you aren’t
familiar with the story,
here is the relevant passage
from the first chapter of the
gospel according to
Luke
:
…
Luke 1:26-31
God
sent the
angel Gabriel
to Nazareth, a
town in Galilee, to
a virgin pledged to
be married to a
man named
Joseph, a
descendant
of David
.
The virgin’s
name was Mary
The angel went
to her and said
,
“Greetings,
you who are
highly favored!
The Lord is
with you.”
Mary was
greatly troubled
at his words and
wondered what kind
of greeting this
might be
.
But
the angel
said to her,
“Do not be afraid,
Mary; you have
found favor
with God.
You will
conceive
and give birth
to a son, and
you are to
call him
JESUS
.
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that
was
The
Annunciation
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The church
being rebuilt
was named the
Basilica
of the
Annunciation
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Naturally,
there is an
emphasis on
Jesus’ mother
Mary
at
this
church
.
That’s all
you need to know
about the story
to appreciate
the art
.
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What is most
interesting to me is
that, for the new church,
the artwork was created
by people all around
the world
!!!
Many different
countries participated
in this project, so we
can see a very rare
collection in one
place; artwork
devoted to
a single
subject
.
Here’s
a photo of
one of the walls
:
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The
central
wall behind
the altar is one
of the largest vertical
mosaics in the world
.
Many of the figures
in it are actual size,
as you can see by
the priest near
the bottom of
the image
:
This mosaic
represents the
Universal Church
.
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The next
set of mosaics
I’m going to show
are also quite large,
over sixteen
feet tall
.
If you want to slow down
the display, click or touch
a photo, and then use the
arrow keys to advance
:
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The variety of
style and expression
from the various countries
is stunning. And I have to say,
I think I could guess the
country just from
looking at the
image
.
Ok,
maybe
I’m biased
after becoming
familiar with them,
but each seems to stay
true to the culture from
which it came
.
26
well known
artists from around the
world were commissioned
by the superiors of the
Franciscan Order
to create these
mosaics
.
Croatia
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I’m
enjoying
seeing how
each country
approached
a similar
subject
.
Ready
For More
???
Many
smaller mosaics
and other art forms
were created for the
walls of the corridors
outside. These are
all similar in size
and format
:
Belarus
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More artworks
have been donated
since the inauguration
of the church
.
I don’t want to
leave any of
them out
!!!
Slovak
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I
don’t
know of any
other church that has
incorporated as many
artistic contributions
from countries all
around the
world
.
love
it
.
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I wanted
to show the
international art,
but if you want to
know more about the
church itself, this is
the best link I
could find
:
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If you want
a more scholarly
discussion of the Basilica,
this article was most
informative
:
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More
About
Mosaics:
The background
tiles of many religious
mosaics contain
real gold
!!!
Here’s an example
:
To make
these golden tiles,
or “gilded tesserae”, gold
was beaten into thin sheets,
placed between two layers of
glass, set on a block of clay,
and baked in an oven to
fuse it all together
.
The end result was
a cube with one
shiny golden
face
.
Gilded Tesserae
are still being made
today, but without clay
.
Here’s a link to see
some pictures
:
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thanks for visiting
come back soon
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