That sacred art scarcely exists today is all too clear. We can perhaps
speak of a "religious," but certainly not a sacred art. True sacred art
is not sentimental or psychological, but ontological and cosmological in
nature. Sacred art cannot be the result of the feelings, fantasies, or
even "thought" of the artist--as with most modern art--but rather the
translation of a reality largely surpassing the limits of human
individuality. Sacred art is precisely a supra-human art. The temple of
former times was an "instrument" of recollection, joy, sacrifice, and
exaltation. First through the harmonious combination of a thousand
crafted symbols, then by offering itself as a receptacle to the symbols
of the liturgy. For the temple and the liturgy together constitute a
prodigious formula capable of preparing man to become aware of the
descent of Grace, of the epiphany of the Spirit in corporeity. It is a
matter of urgency, then, to recall what is true in sacred art,
especially since in the cultural wasteland of our age signs of
resistance to its anarchy and subversion manifest themselves, and a
pressing call is felt to recover the traditional conceptions that must
form the basis and condition of any restoration.
"Through his research into hidden or lost meanings, Jean Hani has
revealed and restored to our attention the most 'initiatic' dimensions
of the Christian religion." Jean Borella, author of The Secret of the
Christian Way, and The Crisis of Religious Symbolism (forthcoming from
Angelico Press)
Jean Hani (1917-2012), former professor emeritus at the University of
Amiens, was the founder of the Centre de Recherche sur l'Antiquité
Classique and a frequent contributor to the journal Connaissance des
Religions. After writing his PhD thesis on the influence of Egyptian
thought upon Plutarch, he produced annotated translations of the
latter's writings for the well-known Collection Budé. Later he became
known for his mastery of traditional hermeneutics and exegesis, and his
broad knowledge in the field of comparative religion. Hani's writing is
sensitive to the predicament of those moderns who seek a firm foundation
in traditional Christian values, while striving also to integrate into
that foundation whatever of value can be salvaged from the contemporary
world. His findings were presented in four important works now available
from Angelico Press in translation: the present volume, along with
Divine Craftsmanship (Preliminaries to a Spirituality of Work), The
Divine Liturgy (Insights into its Mystery), and The Black Virgin (A
Marian Mystery).
