Catholic Sacred Art in Puerto Rico

On Earth as in Heaven

Posted by Vonn

On Earth as it is in Heaven

In response to our Holy Father Pope Francis’s call to dialogue and action on Climate Change in his Encyclical Laudato Si’ On Care for Our Common Home, published in 2015, I offer this metaphorical painting, On Earth as it is in Heaven,  as a visual prayer to raise consciousness and to encourage dialogue

[Leer en Español]

The title of the painting, “On Earth as it is in Heaven,”  is taken from the prayer Jesus taught us. That is, the Lord’s Prayer: Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.

The painting is rhetorical in concept and presents us with only two possibilities.

One in harmony with God’s Creation. In other words, a future of justice, peace, and sustainability in the natural world. Conversely, the other is plunder, chaos, and endless war—subsequently, an ultimate collapse of nature and life on our planet, as we know it.

Moreover, the painting poses a question to the viewer, each one of us, regardless of our religion or beliefs. Which future do we want to live in, leave to our children and future generations?

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And they saw the tomb was empty…(Mark 16)

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When Jesus was resurrected, becoming for us the Christ, in that moment, the world was changed forever for his believers.

Earth burst into blossom. Earth glowed with light in the deep night of time.

Everything, all creation, was illuminated with divine light, hope.

AS SUCH, I PAINTED THE STATIONS OF THE RESURRECTION (Via Lucis-The Way of Light)

And they saw the tomb was empty_ViaLucis1_painting on glass by AVonnHartung
And they saw the tomb was empty.

The intense color is meant to bring this miraculous change into our consciousness.

The colors are super infused with hue. Each color becomes the heightened essence of itself. To the uninformed eye, these “stained glass” windows on the Resurrection might look fantasia-like. They’re meant to be, however,  simple in form and basic in color.

 

"Mary Magdalene encounters the risen Jesus" ViaLucis2 painting on glass by AVonnHartung
Mary Magdalene encounters the risen Jesus.

The figures show emotion in their gestures, their exaggerated movements. This is to show that reality was turned on its head.

Something so unbelievable had occurred that it changed consciousness forever.

The world became full of hope and meaning because death had lost its power and its grip on humanity.

Hallelujah! He has risen!

"After the Resurrection Jesus appears to the women" ViaLucs3 painting on glass by AVonnHartung
After the Resurrection, Jesus appears to the women

These 14 Stations of the Resurrection (Via Lucis) adorn the upper reaches of the nave of Capilla San Juan Bosco in Orocovis (Barrio Gato), Puerto Rico. Padre Jorge Santiago Cartagena, SDB, commissioned them. Twelve similar windows were also commissioned by Padre Jose Luis Gómez, SDB for the church San Juan Bosco in Villa Palmeras, San Juan.

In 1998 Father Sabino Palumbieri, Salesian priest and professor of theological anthropology in Rome, “proposed the creation of a new set of stations [to complement the Stations of the Cross] centered upon the resurrection and the events following it to emphasize the positive hopeful aspect of the Christian story which, though not absent from the Stations of the Cross, is obscured by their emphasis upon suffering. The first major public celebration of this devotion was in 1990…”
It was officially sanctioned by the Vatican in 2001. (From Wikipedia-“Stations of the Resurrection”)

Television Interview with A.Vonn Hartung

Posted by Vonn

Update: See the video interview

EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) will be airing an interview on March 5, 2015 with A.Vonn Hartung about Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago, and Vonn’s experience painting the portrait that is at the Vatican.

THE CHURCH IN PUERTO RICO (30 minute duration)
Thursday March 5 at 3:00 am & 6:30 pm Eastern Time
[Puerto Rico time: 4:00 am and 7:30 pm]

The first 15 minutes of the program is a conversion story about a young man who turned his life around and is now studying for the priesthood; the second part is the interview with Vonn.

The EWTN program can be seen on–
Liberty Cablevision Channel 103 ( in Puerto Rico)
Dish Network Channel 261
DirecTV Channel 350
ROKU

Please visit the EWTN website for channel listings in your local area.
http://www.ewtn.com

Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago portrait by AVonnHartung_at Pontifical North American College Vatican
“Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago”
Oil portrait-
at Pontifical North American College, Vatican

 

This is the oil portrait of Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Santiago by A.Vonn Hartung © 2001, presented to the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican on the occasion of the beatification of Carlos Manuel on 29 april 2001, and is on permanent display there in the Hall of Saints. Learn more

Buy a giclee print of this painting

 

 

 

 

St. Francis lived in the Holy Spirit

Posted by Vonn

St. Francis lived in the Holy Spirit

St. Francis lived in the Holy Spirit.

Indeed he was in love with life and all of God’s Creation.
Hence he brought the Light of Christ to a darkened world!

READ THIS IN SPANISH

St.Francis lived in the Holy Spirit
“St. Francis of Assisi” ceramic sculpture by A.Vonn Hartung, commissioned by Ramón Rivera and Julie A. Thomas

St. Francis lived in the Holy Spirit. In a Gothic arch, a sign of the times in which he lived, St. Francis stands among the fallen and broken timbers of the abandoned San Damiano Church, scattered building blocks at his feet and the Cross of Damiano above, surrounded by his beloved birds and animals: the doves, songbirds, the lamb and the wolf symbolizing peace and harmony… the wolf tamed and throating harmony to Francis’ melody played on his lute and sung as Prayer.

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El Buen Pastor / The Good Shepherd

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On Sunday we celebrated “The Good Shepherd”

 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them. They follow me and I give them eternal life… (Jn 10:27)

 

El Buen Pastor/Good Shepherd painting by A.VonnHartung
El Buen Pastor / Good Shepherd painting by A.VonnHartung

When Padre Jaime Vázquez commissioned this painting, “El Buen Pastor / The Good Shepherd”, as part of my research I visited Ochoa Agrícola (agricultural store) in Caguas, Puerto Rico. They have scores of sheep, mostly lambs and yearlings.

I worked among them getting close-up sketches and the feel of them.

It is such an important part of bringing what we paint to life, to know as much as possible the essence of what it is we are making visible, which in reality is merely a thin film of paint on a two-dimensional canvas.

Closeup detail of painting “El Buen Pastor” (4 x 8-feet) by AVonnHartung, commissioned by Padre Jaime Vázquez Rojas in 2003 for “Parroquia El Buen Pastor” in Guaynabo (Apolo), Puerto Rico

Buy a giclee print of this painting

 

AVonnHartung with his painting ElBuenPastor

 

VIEW THE VIDEO—“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them. They follow me and I give them eternal life… (Jn 10:27) In this video A.Vonn Hartung speaks to a group of parishioners about his painting “El Buen Pastor”— In 2015 the parishioners of his church, San Ignacio de Loyola in Puerto Rico, under the leadership of Dra Señora Laura Gorbea organized a CARAVAN OF CARS to begin to make the rounds to see the Churches with Sacred Art that he had completed. We started with three churches in the metropolitan area. The painting in this video was commissioned by Padre Jaime Vázquez Rojas (may he rest in peace) of the Church of El Buen Pastor on Ave. Apolo in the town of Guaynabo.

NOTE: Due to the low resolution of this video, optimal viewing would be on a smartphone rather than a desktop computer.

Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez

Posted by Vonn

Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez

Two portraits by A.Vonn Hartung

Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez was beatified thirteen years ago today on April 29, 2001, by His Holiness (now Saint) John Paul II. Furthermore, “he was the first Puerto Rican, the first Caribbean-born layperson and the first layperson in the history of the United States to be beatified.“

At the core of Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodriguez’ spirituality (Pope John Paul II  said) was his faith in the Resurrection. He promoted the Easter Vigil as the defining moment of Christian spiritual life, repeating often, “We live for that night.” (Vivimos para esa Noche)

BlessedCarlosManuel Rodriguez2_vonn hartung
Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez
Oil portrait by A. Vonn Hartung 2001

In 2001 I was deeply honored and humbled to be commissioned by the archbishop of San Juan, Monsignor Roberto González Nieves, to paint the official portrait of Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez. Significantly, it was to be given as a gift from Puerto Rico to the Pontifical North American College in Vatican City. Indeed it is exhibited there in the Hall of Saints.

The Portrait is painted with various symbolic elements. They express a visual prayer that “speaks to the eye”. In other words, what was it that helped bring Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodriguez to such an intimate connectedness to our Lord and Savior? The absolute serenity and joy in Charlie’s look is the faith that we seek. It is the faith that seeks us.

Buy a giclee print of this painting

 

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He is Risen

Posted by Vonn

"He is Risen" is a carved tabernacle door by A.VonnHartung“He is Risen” is a carved tabernacle door depicting the hillside of Jerusalem where Jesus was buried. The rising sun reveals it to be Easter morning as the three women skip down the path together, an expression of great joy upon realizing that Jesus has risen.

The grave is empty, sculpted out to serve as the handle of the door, so each time the priest opens the tabernacle, he must put his hand into the empty tomb.

 

Commissioned in 1992 by Padre Jorge Castillejo Lluisiá for Casa de Niños Manuel Fernández Juncos, San Juan, Puerto Rico

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“Ha resucitado” es una puerta del tabernáculo tallada que representa la ladera de Jerusalén donde fue enterrado Jesús. El sol naciente revela que es la mañana de Pascua mientras las tres mujeres saltan juntas por el sendero, en una expresión de gran alegría al darse cuenta de que Jesús ha resucitado.

La tumba está vacía, esculpida para servir de manija de la puerta, por lo que cada vez que el sacerdote abre el tabernáculo, debe meter la mano en la tumba vacía.

Encargado en 1992 por el Padre Jorge Castillejo Lluisiá para Casa de Niños Manuel Fernández Juncos, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Madre Dolorosa Sorrowful Mother

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La Madre Dolorosa (Sorrowful Mother) woodcarving by A.Vonn Hartung
La Madre Dolorosa
(Sorrowful Mother)
Woodcarving by A.Vonn Hartung

(Scroll down for Spanish text)

La Madre Dolorosa, a high-relief wood carving, conveys the agony of Jesus through the eyes of his mother, Mary. Specifically, the betrayal by Judas, the arrest, torturous scourging, trial, carrying of the cross, and finally the agonizing crucifixion and death at Golgotha.

The Sorrowful Mother contemplates the seven sorrows of her life, represented by the seven swords piercing her heart.

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