In the 15th century, artists of Tuscany were actively incorporating Brunelleschi's principles of perspective into the devotional artworks they were creating for the cathedrals and private chapels of their patrons. Forced-perspective (prospettiva accelerata) techniques were adopted by the workshops crafting tabernacles for these spaces. This 'trick' of visual perception created an illusion of extra-dimensional depth, allowing the artist to manipulate the viewer's emotional and spiritual experience.
Tabernacles frame and protect the contents stored within - vessels of a communion ritual, a precious relic, perhaps a miracle-working image. Simultaneously magnifying and distancing, beautifully ornamented with radiant gold leaf and delicate carvings, Renaissance tabernacles left the devotee with the belief that they had directly encountered something transcendent, something sublime.
Mare Sacro is ornamented with natural specimens both from my home on the shores of the Salish Sea, and marine environments across the world. Echoing symbols of ascension and resurrection from Masaccio's Holy Trinity and Titian's Assumption of the Virgin, it imagines an alternative vision of what is truly sacred in the world in an age of climate change.
I'm indebted to Fabio Colonnese (Sapienza University of Rome) and Nick Humphrey (Victoria and Albert Museum, London) for their assistance in researching the optical mathematics of Mare Sacro.
All images © 2019 - 2025 Charles F. Pitz
