Excerpted from: The Forum, Fall 2004
published by the Institute
of Classical Architecture & Classical America
Reproduced with permission
Keeping Up with Our Fellows and Council of Advisors
Leonard Porter
Leonard Porter, ICA&CA Fellow and Fellows Representative, recently completed an oil painting mural commissioned by the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Washington, D.C. and New York City based architecture firm of Franck, Lohsen, McCrery incorporated the mural as part of their design for the chapel of The Sacred Heart of Jesus. As part of the architects’ efforts to bring together various trades, artisans, and craftsmen in the realization of the chapel’s fully conceived environment, Leonard’s classical painting style seemed a natural fit for the project. The canvas, 21' x 7'-6", is divided into three parts by engaged columns on the back wall of the chapel and has an opening in the center of the canvas for hinged doors which will allow access to the tabernacle during mass.
The diocese provided a list of 27 required personages and their accompanying iconography. Leonard was then challenged with the prospect of unifying these various elements into a cohesive image. In the center of the painting, Christ sits atop a throne revealing His Sacred Heart with the throne doubling as a housing for the tabernacle sanctuary. 18 Saints in the foreground comprise a Sacra Conversazione, while angels and the Arch-angels float above them.
Behind these main figures are allegorical figures, intricately rendered temples, monumental vases, a detailed city, and a landscape receding into the distance. Each and every architectural, urban, and decorative element has been studied and refined to work with not only the overall composition of the painting but also the design of the chapel itself. For example, the foreground is closely tied to the actual chapel interior in materials and design. This invites the viewer to proceed into the picture, and using the rich lexicon of Christian symbolism, Leonard has made that procession a metaphor for the faithful’s path in this world and into the next.
Porter entered into a dialogue with the architect and the diocese in the summer of 2002. After design approval from the client, he began painting on the canvas in September 2003 and the complete work will be installed in October 2004. Progress of Leonard Porter’s mural work, as well as other examples of his work, can be found at www.leonardporter.com.
Nora Martin
Details from The Mural for The Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Sioux Falls, SD, oil on linen, 2004; Above, from left to right: Mary and Joseph, Saint Benedict Labre, and an Angel.
