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St. Peters Basilica

$175.00

Rome, Italy

We did not get to see the inside of the basilica as we were on the same crazy 3 hour tour of Rome as when we saw the Pantheon.  Believe it or not, I took the original photo of the basilica used for this design through the back window of a tour bus as we went wizzing by!

 

Fun Facts:

  • The original church on this site was built in the 4th century by Emperor Constantine, the Roman Empire's first christian emperor
  • By the early Renaissance period, the church was in terrible shape, and was torn down to make way for a new one, destroying thousands of priceless ancient art in the process
  • The current basilica was built between 1506-1626
  • Each of the paintings inside the church are actually glass mosaics
  • Charlemagne's coronation was held here on December 25, 800
  • The Baldachin, the bronze canopy over the alter, is 96 feet tall, and is said to have been created using bronze from the roof of the Pantheon
  • St. Peter might be buried below the basilica.  It was believed that the site contained the saint's remains when the original church was built on that location.  In the 1940's, an excavation was done in the area rumored to contain his remains, and bones were found.  They were found to have belonged to a 60 year old male, which was the age at which Peter died, and they were encrusted with dirt, which further supports the theory, as Peter was originally buried directly in the dirt.  In addition, remnants of purple thread were clinging to the bones, a color that would only be used to wrap the bones of someone royal or holy.

Process And Size Guidelines

I handcraft each piece in my home studio, located just outside of Kansas City, MO.

Most of the photos I use were taken by me on my travels near and far.    I review each photo, looking for striking colors and strong structural elements.    If you think of the entire design as a pie, I am looking for a perfect “slice” of pie within the picture.  Once I find it, the slice is mirrored and repeated in a circular fashion to create the whole pie, i.e. the kaleidoscopic design.

 

The design then is printed multiple times onto photo paper and I hand cut different elements from each copy of the design with scissors (yes, scissors!). After the cutting is done, I reassemble the pieces into tiered layers separated by foam core, creating the unique three-dimensional kaleidoscopic effect.  Finally, I mount the piece onto mat board and frame it in a shadow box, adding a small copy of the original photo to the piece.

 

 

Each design is available in multiple sizes.  The larger the piece, the more layers the design will have, which gives you even greater depth and dimension.  The larger size also allows for more intricate cutting, providing more texture and more "wow"!

 

 Size
Outside Dimensions Inside Dimensions Frame Color
10x10
9.75" x 9.75" x 2" 9" x 9" x 1.5" Black
13x13
13.5" x 13.5" x 2.75" 12" x 12" x 2.25" Black
16x16
18.5" x 18.5" x 4" 16" x 16" x 3" Custom made reclaimed cedar with museum quality plexiglass front