Ars Sacra, or sacred art, has always been an integral part of the Roman Catholic Church. From the frescos of Giotto and Michelangelo, to the canvases of Caravaggio and sculptures of Donatello, churches throughout Italy, and around the world, have been the home of numerous artworks that explore the central mysteries of faith with images that illuminate the scriptures and interpret their meaning for those who seek a greater understanding of our divine purpose in life.
In 1987, supported by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in its effort to revitalize its community of faith, the Church of Corpus Domini in Bolzano, Italy, sought an artist to render The Passion of Christ in a series of paintings that would reinterpret the story of Jesus and explore its meaning in today's society.
Described as a modern expressionist by Samuel Sachs II, former director of the Detroit Institute of Arts, artist Carla Carli Mazzucato was deemed the perfect artistic voice for the commission.
After a period of Biblical study and extensive reflection on the Stations of the Cross, Mazzucato began the process of creating images that would both explore the scriptural story of Jesus and resonate with themes that spoke to the complex modern world in which we live. Her treatment of the subject reinterpreted Christ's fall and sacrifice as a parallel tragedy with mankind's own fall from grace — War and Hunger become the Condemnation of Man; while Compassion and Faith lead the way to Hope and forgiveness.
In Spring of 1991, the completed Faces of Redemption series was presented and installed at the Church of Corpus Domini in Bolzano, Italy.
Upon completion of the Faces of Redemption series, Carla Carli Mazzucato continued her artistic exploration and created a series of original woodcut prints to interpret the story of Christ's Passion in a different and dramatic form.
With incisive images in black and white, created from hand-carved wooden tablets, inked and pressed onto paper, Mazzucato's Via Crucis distilled the compositions and ideas of her painted series into fourteen bold, graphic works. Beginning with The Judge, whose stare accuses and condemns, stark faces in the series tell a story of devotion, conviction and sacrifice.
Mazzucato
classic art — contemporary vision
sacred art
sacred art
