The
Stations of the Cross were drawn by a young Seattle
photorealist, Cody
Harrington. Cody, age 22, was commissioned to paint
the fourteen Stations of the Cross to hang in the archways
in our new building. It was decided that the pencil sketches
submitted as design concepts were so magnificent in their
detail that paintings would be too overpowering.
The images represent Cody's interpretation of the Mel Gibson's
2004 film, The Passion of the Christ. The adaptation
from this genre brings a unique sense of motion to the Stations
of the Cross, creating the illusion that you are there.
From these images, we are able to see the reaction on the
faces of the people in the crowd, the cruelty of the guards,
the sorrow of the women and the surrender of Christ.
Cody attended The School of Visual Arts in
Manhattan. This is his first of many professional commissions.
The Stained Glass is comprised of two dozen ascending
and descending angels in the four transepts above the altar.
In addition, there is a Descending Dove in the east transept
wall and the Sacred Heart in the west transept wall. They
were designed and installed by Adrian
Cavallini of San Antonio, TX.
The Statuary was uniquely designed for St. Jude and
hand-carved by Ferdinando
Perathoner of Ortisei, Italy. The Perathoner family
has been wood carvers in Ortisei for over 400 years. He
designed a one-of-a-kind corpus for the crucifix and four
large statues in the niches of the sanctuary. They are
the Madonna and Child, St. Joseph with the child Jesus,
St. Martin DePorres and our patron, St. Jude Thaddeus.
There are two smaller statues in the niches of the Chapel.
They are the of the diminutive and future Saint for whom
the chapel is named, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
and one of the future Saint, Pope John Paul II, Servant
of God.
The Mural "Jesus Washes the Feet of His Disciples" above the main doors at the entrance of the church and the San Damiano Cross in the chapel were commissioned by Allen native, Andy Buchanan in 2010. He attended art schools in Texas and Oklahoma honing his fine art techniques, experimenting with various mediums and learning graphic design. He began his professional career as an artist and fabricator for Epicenter. His artistic skills have taken him all over the country and as far as the island of St. Maarten in the Caribbean. His sculptures and murals can be found in museums and libraries across Texas. His ability to mimic real life in painting and sculpture has attracted numerous clients. He receives the highest accolades for the execution of his beautiful works of art. To see more of Andy's work, visit his website at andybuchananartworks.com.
