Another Case Study in Colour and Detail: St. Ambrose Cathedral in Des Moines, Iowa
My observations: Don't get me wrong, the after/after is better than the after but the before/before is the best and completely destroyed and for what purpose. How did the cathedral parish feel at the time of the "bombing" of their beautiful sanctuary prior to the first renovation?
The decorations and paint job are nice in the after/after renovation, but a bit too loud for my tastes. The bishop's throne dead center sends the wrong message to the bishop and to the congregation or unfortunately, maybe the right message!
Before:
After:
After/after:
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Another Case Study in Colour and Detail: St. Ambrose Cathedral in Des Moines, Iowa
7 comments:
Altar too small—-almost equal in size to pulpit. The throne in the middle is the height of anthropocentrism—-very much sends the wrong message. Tabernacle and Cross belong in the center. If the tabernacle is located elsewhere (which is not a good idea) then the Cross alone should be the focal point on or above the altar.
I don't want to parrot your thoughts as well as those of Joseph Johnson. I agree with all that you both said. This space is just frustrating, vibrancy above, the bishop made himself a nice throne, he's second to Jesus, apparently and if I'm seeing things correctly, we can incarcerate Jesus behind bars on the side whenever we want. I'm not sure whose needs are being served here besides the bishops. Perhaps the people, after having their church gutted the first time, feel the same.
They really did a number on the original sanctuary! The old days of “pray, pay and obey” is the only explanation I can give for this act of philistinism. I doubt they could get away with this today. The after, after, is warmer but the altar, as already pointed out, is far too small and the centrality of the bishop’s throne is off putting
I have come to like the strong contrasting red and blue. At first it was a bit off-putting, but there is great warmth in these colors, and not too much of either.
And, at first, I though the pews too simple for the space, but that simplicity keeps them from becoming more than they are.
The altar could be a bit larger, and I'd prefer the fine chadlesticks to be a bit closer, but these are minor details.
Looking that the cathedral webpage, I found that one of the windows depicts Jesuit martyrs including Father Charles Felix van Quickenbourne. Now THAT is a name!
ByzRsu - Incarcerate? Really? Is it possible to incarcerate an omnipresent Divine being?
Maybe the gates are for the security of the Most Blessed Sacrament, which is required.
See Canon 938/3. "The tabernacle in which the Most Holy Eucharist is reserved habitually is to be immovable, made of solid and opaque material, and locked in such a way that the danger of profanation is avoided as much as possible."
Apparently, as you can close the gates where the word made flesh is physically kept. Fr. really as well?? It's a metaphor for all the ornamental iron that's been added to take up space where once there were liturgical fixtures.
Most churches don't have gated rooms for the tabernacle. The rather massive tabernacle at my mother's parish has bank vault style bolts that pop through the doors into receptacles when the key is turned. As it was on a palate on a forklift when it was brought into the church, it certainly is immovable.
We profane the blessed sacrament all the time by giving the sacred host to pro abortion politicians
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