I visited churches linked to three
significant controversies over the commissioning of modern art: (i) a set of Stations of the Cross and an altarpiece, The Death of St Teresa, commissioned
from the Flemish artist Albert Servaes for the church of the Discalced
Carmelites in Luithagen, a suburb of Antwerp led, in 1921, to a decree from the
Holy Office based on Canon 1399.12, which states that images may not be
‘unusual’, resulting in first the Stations and then the altarpiece being
removed from the chapel; (ii) the publication of a 'Manifesto of Futurist Sacred Art' in 1931 led to a censure from Pope Pius XI in a speech
given in October 1932 at the inauguration of a new Vatican Art Gallery and the
rationalist design by Alberto Sartoris (who had strong links to the Futurists)
for Notre-Dame du Bon Conseil in the Swiss Alps at Lourtier also created a
scandal in the Swiss press in the same year; (iii) Germaine Richier’s Crucifix
was removed from Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce at Assy and a subsequent
instruction on sacred art issued by the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office
in 1952 was the beginning of two year iniative by the Vatican which severely
constrained the modernizing programme of the French Dominicans and represented
a victory for the traditionalists within the Church.
Many church
commissions are controversial because they introduce something different and
therefore dissonant into a familiar building. Harmonization can, as we have
seen, help to minimize this sense of dissonance and difference but with some
works their value derives from the sense of dissonance they create.
This was the case
with those images of the crucifixion by, for example, Servaes, Richier and Graham Sutherland which viewed Christ’s sacrifice as emblematic of human suffering in
conflict and persecution. These were often controversial as they challenged
sentimental images of Christ and deliberately introduced ugliness into
beautiful buildings. I spoke to parishioners in both Northampton and East Acton
who stated that they did not like Sutherland’s Crucifixions but who also appreciated why the paintings were as
they were and the challenge that they provided as a result.
I was
particularly moved to find on entering Sint Martinuskerk in Latem that the
baptistery contains a Passion charcoal by Servaes. Servaes and Richier were
both affected by decrees from the holy office which led to the removal of their
artworks from the churches for which they had been commissioned. Servaes, with
his Stations of the Cross and altarpiece for the Carmelite Chapel in Luithagen
and Richier, with her crucifix for the church at Assy.
Given all that Servaes
experienced in the controversy over the Luithagen Stations, including the
removal of work which was a genuine expression of his faith by the Church of
which he was part, I found it profoundly moving that a work of his, in the same
vein as the Luithagen Stations, should be displayed in the church and area
where his faith and art first fused. Richier’s crucifix has been returned to
its place in the sanctuary at Assy and the church, like many other art sacré
churches, is classed by the Government as a national monument and has become a
significant tourist location.
It seems,
therefore, that scandals of modern art, whether the reception of the works
themselves or that of their challenging content, are, with time, resolved as
congregations live with the works and learn to value the challenge of what
initially seems to be scandalous. It is my contention, therefore, on the basis
of these examples that criticism of the Hussey Memorial Commission would
dissipate over time if the work were to be installed. It is a particularly
ironic and inappropriate memorial to Walter Hussey that his memorial commission
should be the subject of such controversy that it is prevented from being
installed.
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Luigi Russolo - Serenata.
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