Record of the Week: Pope Paul VI Mosaic

This Sunday, Pope Paul VI (1963-1978) will be beatified, which is the first step towards sainthood.  The ceremony is scheduled for the closing Mass of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family.

For many years, this mosaic portrait of Pope Paul VI has stood over the Archives' workroom.  It's one of those pieces that has been here for as long as anyone can remember; no one knows how it got here.

Everything about the mosaic remained a complete mystery to us until the Summer of 2021, when the daughter of Luigi Nasato contacted us identifying her father as the creator. Italian by birth, Mr. Nasato moved to Argentina before settling in Canada in 1959. He worked as a mosaicist for years before the focus of his career shifted towards helping redesign churches after the Second Vatican Council. Thanks to a photograph shared by Mr. Nasato's daughter, we know the mosaic was completed and hanging in the Conn-Arts studio by 1965. 

Luigi Nasato's prolific public works of art were donated  to York University. 

How this Pope Paul VI mosaic came to the archives is still a mystery, but it looks very nice in the Archives.  

One interesting factoid about mosaics: all of the "paintings" that decorate the interior of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome are not paintings at all; they're mosaics. As a tour guide once explained to me, paintings fade but mosaics last forever. And all of the artwork inside the Basilica was designed to stand the test of time.

You can read more about the Paul VI's beatification in this Catholic Register article.

Mosaics like this one and those in St. Peter's Basilica are made of tesserae, small pieces of coloured glass.

Record of the Week: Diocese of Toronto is raised to Archdiocese

Portrait of Most. Rev. Lynch by Kurz & Allison, Art Publishers, Chicago,1884.
PH04/04P

On this day in 1870, the See of Toronto was elevated to an archdiocese, making Bishop John Joseph Lynch its first archbishop.

This decision was made during the First Vatican Council, 1869-1870 (so-called because it was the first council held at the Vatican Basilica).

These two bulls of Pope Pius IX:

• divide the Ecclesiastical Province of Quebec to erect the Ecclesiastical Province of Toronto, and raise the See of Toronto to metropolitan status;
• nominate Bishop Lynch to the Metropolitan See of Toronto.

As a result of Toronto gaining metropolitan status, the Dioceses of Kingston, Hamilton, and Sandwich were also established as suffragan sees.

Bulls of Pope Pius IX dated March 18, 1870
L RC 52.09 & 52.10

Yousuf Karsh: Renowned Portrait Photographer

Pope Pius XII. Albert Einstein. Winston Churchill. Ernest Hemingway. Fidel Castro. Audrey Hepburn. Queen Elizabeth II. The Marx Brothers. Marshall McLuhan. James Cardinal McGuigan. G. Emmett Cardinal Carter.

What do these people have in common? They are only a few of the subjects of prolific photographer Yousuf Karsh.

Born in Armenia in 1908, Karsh was brought to Canada by his uncle in 1924 and apprenticed with portraitist John H. Garo in Boston from 1928-1931. Karsh set up his own shop in Ottawa in 1931, and achieved international success in 1941 when his portrait of Winston Churchill was featured on the cover of Life Magazine.

Over his five-decade career, Karsh photographed many important and influential people. His work has been featured in many books and exhibits, and he received many industry, academic, and national awards. He passed away in 2002.

Cardinal McGuigan and Cardinal Carter were lucky enough to be captured by Karsh's artistic vision:

Photographic portrait of James C. Cardinal McGuigan taken by Yousuf Karsh in a left side profile pose and kneeling in prayer in front of a framed tapestry of the Madonna and Child.  He is wearing a cappa magna with a fur stole and a zucchetto, and is holding a biretta.

Photographic portrait of James C. Cardinal McGuigan by Yousuf Karsh in a standing pose, wearing episcopal dress, zucchetto, and cappa magna and  is holding his biretta in his right hand.  

Photographic portrait of G. Emmett Cardinal Carter by Yousuf Karsh in Archbishop's choir dress before he was created Cardinal.

Photographic portrait of G. Emmett Cardinal Carter taken by Yousuf Karsh, in a seated, side view pose, facing the camera.  The photograph was taken in St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto, ON

Please visit the Yousuf Karsh official website for more information.
Check the Library and Archives Canada website for information about their extensive Karsh holdings.