Do you want to learn more about some of the more technical aspects of sacral art? Consider reading these books to start:

Ugly as Sin, Michael S. Rose, 2001

• How the Church has been sapped of its spiritual efficacy through poor liturgical architecture.

The Grammar of Ornament (Ornamental Grammar), Owen Jones, 1856

• The design classic pioneering and summarizing many technical principles of design and ornament, through historical analysis.  See Jones' 37 must-read, featured propositions on decorative arts HERE. 

Sacramentality: A Principle of Ecclesiastical Design, Frs. Neale and Webb, 1842

• A helpful essay to understand truly how Catholic art functions on the sacramental/symbolic level especially with respect to the liturgy, a preface and commentary to Durandus' medieval classic, 'Rationale Divinorum Officiorum'.

Other books and writings of technical interest by order of relevance:

• Instructiones Fabricae et Supellectilis Ecclesiasticae, St. Charles Boromeo, 1577

• Rationale Divinorum Officiorum, Durandus, 1295 c.

• The Analysis of Beauty, William Hogarth, 1753

• The Laws of Contrast and Color, Michel Eugene Chevreul. 1839, translated edition by Dan Margulis.

• Zur Farbenlehre (On Color Theory), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1810

• Symmetrie, Herman K. H. Wyel, 1938

• A Color Notational, Albert Henry Munsel, 1905

• Churches, their plan and furnishing. Peter F. Anson, 1948

• An Apology for the Coloring of the Greek Court in the Crystal Palace, Owen Jones, 1854

• On Christian Doctrine, St. Augustine of Hippo, Book II, Chapter 40

• The Fardle of Facions (Omnium Gentium Mores, Leges, et Ritus) Johannes Boemus et al, 1520, Chapter 12

• Letter to Artists, Pope St. John Paul II, 1999

• On the Architecture of the Hindus, Ram Raz, 1834

• The Renovation Manipulation, Michael S. Rose 2000

• Examples Of Chinese Ornament, (The Grammar of Chinese Ornament) Owen Jones, 1867

• De Coloribus, Aristotle (ascribed)

• Is Hogarth's 'Line of Beauty' really the most beautiful? An empirical answer after 250 years, Ronald Hübner et al, i-Perception, 2022

• Are cone sensitivities determined by natural color statistics? Alex Lewis et al, Journal of Vision, 2006

• Understanding Retinal Color Coding from First Principles, Joseph Atick et al, Neural Computation, 1992

• Contextual influences in V1 as a basis for pop out and asymmetry in visual search, Li Zhaoping, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1999

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If you know of a relevant book not featured in this list, please notify the studio so that Ethan may read it.  This is very important for the nurturing and improvement of the craft.