Stations of the Cross
A devotional cycle, traditionally of fourteen scenes, tracing Christ's journey from condemnation to burial; often realized as reliefs or sculptural groups along church walls.
Sacred Art
Virgin of Mercy
A Marian type in which the Virgin spreads her mantle protectively over kneeling groups of the faithful, clergy, confraternities, or patrons.
Processional Cross
A cross mounted on a staff and carried in liturgical procession, often richly carved, cast, gilded, or ornamented.
Sacred Heart
A Catholic devotional image of the heart of Christ, commonly shown flaming, radiant, wounded, crowned with thorns, and surmounted by a cross.
Angel
A spiritual messenger represented in Christian art as a humanlike heavenly being, conventionally winged and frequently used in architectural, devotional, and funerary sculpture.
Sedes Sapientiae
A traditional title for the Virgin Mary in Christian theology and sacred art, referring to Mary as the throne or vessel through which Divine Wisdom — Christ — enters the world.
Theotokos
Greek for 'God-bearer' or 'Mother of God,' a title of the Virgin Mary affirmed at the Council of Ephesus in 431.
Via Pulchritudinis
Latin for 'the way of beauty.' In Christian thought it describes beauty as a path by which the human person may be drawn toward contemplation of truth, goodness, and ultimately God; sacred art participates in this path when beauty serves revelation rather than mere ornament.
Grazia
Vasari's term for the indefinable grace that makes a work appear effortless — the un non so che of perfect art.
Mausoleum
A monumental tomb or funerary building intended to commemorate and house the remains of an individual or group.