B.
Domeless
Behind the scenes
The dome has been removed from the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
From Christchurch Press, 27 July 2011
Photographer: Don Scott
My route to work goes up and over a bridge which gives me a quick daily view of Christchurch's Roman Catholic cathedral. The two end towers are long gone and today the central dome is gone too. It's called 'de-construction' and is done with great care, but it is frankly hard to see how or when re-construction might ever take place. The Cathedral's website contains full details of this process.
The cathderal contains numerous commissioned works of art, Llew Summers's Stations of the Cross and Ria Bancroft's Tabernacle Screen Doors among them, and, until the building is safe to enter, their fate remains unclear.
However, parts of the original terracotta forms, from which Ria Bancroft's bronze doors were cast, were donated to this Gallery by the artist.
Ria Bancroft Resurrection Tabernacle screen doors (Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament) 1976. Clay. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, presented by the artist 1976. Reproduced courtesy of Peb Simmons
This is a fragment for the right-hand door, entitled 'Christ is risen'.
As buildings continue to tumble and a bleak midwinter gloom settles on the city, surely the need for some resurrection – spiritual or physical – has never been more pressing.
Related
Collection
Ria Bancroft Pieta 1976 Tabernacle screen doors (Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament)
In 1980, Christchurch artist Ria Bancroft (1907-1993) presented the Gallery with two fine plaster castings and two terracotta model fragments from one of her most important commissions, The Bronze Tabernacle Screen Doors for the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Commissioned February 1975, the Bronze Doors were dedicated by Archbishop Angelo Acerbi Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to New Zealand on June 12, 1977.
When commissioned, the doors were just one part of a large project being undertaken by the Catholic Church in their redesign and restoration programme of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
There is more information on the Tabernacle Commission in the supplement section of Bulletin No.11, September/October 1980.
Collection
Ria Bancroft Resurrection Tabernacle screen doors (Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament)
In 1980, Christchurch artist Ria Bancroft (1907-1993) presented the Gallery with two fine plaster castings and two terracotta model fragments from one of her most important commissions, The Bronze Tabernacle Screen Doors for the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Commissioned February 1975, the Bronze Doors were dedicated by Archbishop Angelo Acerbi Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to New Zealand on June 12, 1977.
When commissioned, the doors were just one part of a large project being undertaken by the Catholic Church in their redesign and restoration programme of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
There is more information on the Tabernacle Commission in the supplement section of Bulletin No.11, September/October 1980.
Collection
Ria Bancroft Foundry plaster for ‘Pieta’ - Tabernacle screen doors for Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament
In 1980, Christchurch artist Ria Bancroft (1907-1993) presented the Gallery with two fine plaster castings and two terracotta model fragments from one of her most important commissions, The Bronze Tabernacle Screen Doors for the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Commissioned February 1975, the Bronze Doors were dedicated by Archbishop Angelo Acerbi Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to New Zealand on June 12, 1977.
When commissioned, the doors were just one part of a large project being undertaken by the Catholic Church in their redesign and restoration programme of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
There is more information on the Tabernacle Commission in the supplement section of Bulletin No.11, September/October 1980.
Collection
Ria Bancroft Foundry Plaster For ‘Resurrection’ - Tabernacle Screen Doors
In 1980, Christchurch artist Ria Bancroft (1907-1993) presented the Gallery with two fine plaster castings and two terracotta model fragments from one of her most important commissions, The Bronze Tabernacle Screen Doors for the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Commissioned February 1975, the Bronze Doors were dedicated by Archbishop Angelo Acerbi Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to New Zealand on June 12, 1977.
When commissioned, the doors were just one part of a large project being undertaken by the Catholic Church in their redesign and restoration programme of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
There is more information on the Tabernacle Commission in the supplement section of Bulletin No.11, September/October 1980.