In mid-July, the fourteen Carrara marble Stations of the Cross, commemorating the events of the Passion of Jesus and featured on the walls of the existing cathedral, will be removed. Rugo Stone, Natural Stone and Mosaic Contractors, will carefully extract the Stations first placed in the church in February of 1957 for cleaning. They will be reinstalled in the new cathedral!
DID YOU KNOW?
Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Stations of the Cross are carved from a special marble, called Bianco P, quarried from a very high altitude quarry in a town just south of Carrara, Italy called Massa. The quarry is 1,600 meters above sea level and is only open during summer and early fall.
President of Rugo Stone, Brett Rugo explains, “This marble was clearly used because it has almost no vein, it is pure white marble and very sound. So, the carving appearance is not compromised by any veining.
Stations of the Cross documentation from the Diocese of Nashville, 1957
This material is beneficial because these stations have a tremendous amount of very fine hand-carved detail; the faces are only 1 ½” to 2” high, and they exhibit top class workmanship. The grain of this stone is very small, just dust, so the carvers can really exhibit their skill with such fine detail. Bianco P is also very tight so it holds a chisel line, and does not fray like other larger grain materials. Normally, one only sees Bianco P for small works, sculptures, and altar accents, as it is not a material in high quantity.”
Once removed, the Stations will be replaced with replicas until completion of the new Cathedral.
Mr. Rugo also said, “As you can imagine, I have come across a lot of carving in my 30 years of experience, and I think these pieces are stunning. Due to the high level of detail, Sacred Heart is in possession of some very special Stations, worthy of relocation to the new Cathedral.”
View images of our Stations of the Cross
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