Grace Lutheran Church – Mankato, MN
N 44° 09.945 W 093° 59.918
15T E 420158 N 4890767
Adorning the front of Grace Lutheran Church is a magnificent mosaic which reaches from the ground clear to the roofline of the building.
Waymark Code: WMC8A0
Location: Minnesota, United States
Date Posted: 08/07/2011
Views: 8
Adorning the front of Grace Lutheran Church is a magnificent mosaic which reaches from the ground clear to the roofline of the building. The mosaic entitled “Grace” was done by artist Scuola Musaicisti-Del Friuli, Spilimbergo, Udine, Italy.
Donald Gregory from Gustavus Adolphus College prepared the painting for the mosaic tells about its symbolism:
"Believing it to be most suitable I chose to use as my theme the scriptural concept of grace, 'Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus'--Romans 3:24. In order to symbolize in concrete terms the intangible, abstract concept of grace, I selected as my device the Sacrament of the Altar, 'The visible form of invisible grace. Grace, the inexhaustible, limitless, forgiveness of God, is represented by the great hand offering the ultimate sacrifice--Christ to the world, a hand open to giving and forgiving.
“The central figure symbolizing Christ, the agent of God's intentions, offers to the darkened world the glowing symbols of life. Potential streams of mystical light flood and transfigure the base materials on the altar. The figures about the altar represent people in varying states of what is called 'The Human Condition'. People between doubt and faith, between hope and despair. From out of the distance come people, through their trials, seeking the answers that God places before them, without denial, upon the altar."
Material taken from church website:
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visit link)
At the base of the artwork “Mankato Tile Terrazzo Co” is worked into the tile on the left while the artist’s name appears in the lower right corner.