The Living Stones

The architects and members of the Sacred Heart Cathedral building sub-committee traveled to Italy – Venice, Florence and Rome – to specify materials and meet with artisans for the new Cathedral currently under construction in the Diocese of Knoxville.

The purpose of the trip was see what the artisans are capable of to accommodate spaces in the new church to receive works of art now and into the future as funds become available. 

A cathedral is organic by nature and grows with the diocese as it evolves. The goal is to create a palette; even when complete the cathedral will be beautiful, however there will spaces left intentionally for future generations to add to the faith and life of East Tennessee as our diocese continues to grow.

The group visited the island of Murano, Italy near Venice to meet with master artisans of mosaic glass at the oldest glass mosaic company in the world. Orsoni supplies half of the world’s mosaic glass and is the only supplier in the world for real gold glass. They feature over 20,000 hand mixed colors. Raw material is sand and melted to 2,000 degrees to make glass. Sand, potassium, lead oxide and minerals combine to create different colors. Watch VIDEO.

Next up: A visit to the marble factories of Carrara

Above Top to Bottom: Kelly & Dana Headden, James McCrery,  Bruce & Sharon Bosse, Jerry & Ann Bodie, Tom & Sue Greer, Fr. David Boettner, Mary Mac Wilson, Pam Rhoades