The Seven Sacraments
Richard C. Sauerzopf
Bexley Hall Seminary
February 2008
San Vitale, Ravenna
Completed, 548 AD
Detail of the decoration of the Presbytery. San Vitale. Ravenna, Italy.
548. Oar_square's photostream. www.flickr.com
San Vitale, Ravenna. From Sacred-desitnations.com
San Vitale, Ravenna. Interior view showing apse. From azoto46's
photostream. www.flickr.com.
Hildegard of Bingen
(1098-1179)
Hildegard receiving divine
inspiration, from
medieaval manuscript
Representation of the
Trinity from t he
Scivias Codex
Rogier van der Weyden
(1399/1400 - 1464)
The Sacraments of Baptism,
Confirmation and Penance
by Weyden, Rogier van der
(1399/1400 - 1464)- Triptych
panel from Koninklijk Museum
voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp
The Sacrament of the Eucharist
by Weyden, Rogier van der
(1399/1400 - 1464)- Triptych panel
from Koninklijk Museum voor
Schone Kunsten, Antwerp
The Sacraments of Extreme
Unction, Matrimony and Holy
Orders
by Weyden, Rogier van der
(1399/1400 - 1464)- Triptych
panel from Koninklijk Museum
voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp
Rogier van der Weyden. Seven Sacraments Altarpiece. Baptism,
Confirmation, and Penance. Detail of the left wing. c.1445-1450. Oil
on panel. Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp,
Belgium.
van Rogier der Weyden.
Seven Sacraments
Altarpiece.
Ordination,
Marriage, and
Extreme Unction.
Detail of the right
wing. c.1445-1450.
Oil on panel.
Koninklijk Museum
voor Schone
Kunsten, Antwerp,
Belgium.
Rogier van der Weyden. Seven Sacraments
Altarpiece. Virgin Mary and St. John. Detail
of the cental part. c.1445-1450. Oil on panel.
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten,
Antwerp, Belgium.
Rogier van der Weyden (b. 1400, Tournai, d. 1464, Bruxelles). Seven
Sacraments Altarpiece, complete.
St. Peter Church, Monk Soham,
Suffolk, England
Confession. From
baptismal font,
St. Peter Church,
Monk Soham,
Suffolk, England.
Early fifteenth
century.
All photos of this
church from
Simon K’s Photo
Stream.
www.flickr.com.
Mass. From
baptismal font,
St. Peter Church,
Monk Soham,
Suffolk,
England. Early
fifteenth
century.
Baptism. From
baptismal font,
St. Peter Church,
Monk Soham,
Suffolk, England.
Early fifteenth
century.
Ordination. From
baptismal font, St.
Peter Church, Monk
Soham, Suffolk,
England. Early
fifteenth century.
Last Rights. From
baptismal font,
St. Peter Church,
Monk Soham,
Suffolk, England.
Early fifteenth
century.
Matrimony. From
baptismal font, St.
Peter Church,
Monk Soham,
Suffolk, England.
Early fifteenth
century.
Confirmation. From
baptismal font, St. Peter
Church, Monk Soham,
Suffolk, England. Early
fifteenth century.
Crucifixion. Central panel of baptismal font, St. Peter Church,
Monk Soham, Suffolk, England. Early fifteenth century.
View of St. Peter Church Baptismal Font showing its location at the
(liturgical) west end of the church. Monk Soham, Suffolk,
England.
View of St. Peter Church Baptismal Font from choir/sanctuary. Monk Soham,
Suffolk, England.
Seven Sacraments Baptismal Font doing double duty as a Christmas tree stand. (!) St.
Peter Church. Monk Soham, Suffolk, England. Note typical (and badly damaged)
effigies of Evangelists at base of font, and top of scary-looking box on floor.
Gratuitous image of scary-looking box in front of Baptismal Font, St. Peter Church,
Monk Soham, Suffolk, England. Note sickly-green copper-oxide deposits
which have leached from the box to stain the terra-cotta floor tiles.
St. Peter Church, Monk Soham, Suffolk, England
The Assumption Church, Great
Witchingham, England
Baptismal font, The Assumption
Church, Great Witchingham,
England, Fifteenth Century.
Another “typical” font showing
the seven sacraments. Also
typical are the effigies of the
four Evangelists, which ring
the Font’s base.
This font retains significant traces
of its polychromatic
decoration.
All images of this church from
www.norfolkchurches.co.uk
Baptism.
The Assumption
Church,
baptismal font
detail. Great
Witchingham,
Enlgand.
It’s time to play…
NAME THAT
SACRAMENT!
Is it Matrimony?
You make the call.
The Assumption
Church,
baptismal font
detail. Great
Witchingham,
Enlgand.
Note: Game is for exhibition only.
Please, no wagering.
And now for
round II of…
NAME THAT
SACRAMENT!
Ordination
perhaps?
The Assumption
Church,
baptismal font
detail. Great
Witchingham,
Enlgand.
Extreme Unction.
The Assumption
Church,
baptismal font
detail. Great
Witchingham,
Enlgand.
Mass
The Assumption
Church,
baptismal font
detail. Great
Witchingham,
Enlgand.
Note that the altar
is adorned
with a lovely
dossal and
tester!
Confirmation?
The Assumption
Church,
baptismal
font detail.
Great
Witchingham,
Enlgand.
Confession?
The Assumption
Church,
baptismal
font detail.
Great
Witchingham,
Enlgand.
The Assumption
The Assumption
Church,
baptismal font
detail. Great
Witchingham,
Enlgand.
A fitting theme
for the
decoration of
the front panel
of this font.
The Assumption Church, Great Witchingham, Enlgand. Fifteenth Century
Interior of The Assumption
Church, Great
Witchingham, Enlgand.
View shows position of
fifteenth century “seven
sacraments” baptismal
font (the top of which
appears on the left side of
the bottom of the image)
relative to the Choir and
High Altar.
Interior of The Assumption
Church, Great
Witchingham, Enlgand.
View shows position of
fifteenth century “seven
sacraments” baptismal
font in the baptistry, which
is located on the (liturgical)
western end of the church
and which here contains
the the main body of the
organ as well.
Cathedral of the Holy Trinity
Norwich, England
Norwich, Cathedral of the Holy Trinity.
“The Seven Sacraments Font in St. Luke's
chapel is a beautiful example of a type
of font popular in East Anglia in the
15th century. There are only two in
other areas, but 38 in Norfolk and
Suffolk. The scenes carved round the
octagonal bowl are Baptism,
Confirmation, Ordination, Holy
Communion, Marriage, Unction of the
Dying - then a Crucifixion to fill the
eighth space and Penance. The font
c.1480
This font was badly damaged during the
English Civil War by Puritan iconoclasts
The font originates from the parish
church of St Mary-in-the-Marsh, which
was demolished in 1564. The
parishioners were given use of St.
Luke's Chapel, where they still worship.”
(Official Norwich Cathedral website)
Magnificent Great Crossing
with Romanesque
structure, and Gothic
vaulting over choir and
apse roof. Cathedral of
the Holy Trinity.
Norwich, Norfolk,
England.
www.artandarchitecture.org.uk
Nave with Romanesque
structure and Gothic
vaulting over choir and
apse roof. Cathedral of
the Holy Trinity.
Norwich, Norfolk
England.
www.artandarchitecture.org.uk
Norwich, Cathedral of the
Holy Trinity, West façade
(15th Century). Norfolk,
England
After C. H. B. Quennell, The
Cathedral Church of
Norwich (London: George
Bell & Sons, 1900)
St. Mary Church
Little Walsingham, Norfolk
St. Mary Church, Little Walsingham, Norfolk
St. Mary is the Anglican parish church for Little Walsingham, and as such the mother
church for all the Anglican parishes in the vicinity. It was destroyed by fire in 1961,
only the shell, font and memorial surviving.
The font is one of the seven sacrament series, depicting the seven sacraments of the preReformation Catholic Church. About forty of these fonts have survived in England,
more than half of them in Norfolk. Simon K's Flickr site. www.flickr.com
Baptistry, Saint Mary Church , Little Walsingham, Norfolk
Laxfield Church, England
“Laxfield's fantastic 15th-century font is one of the finest 'Seven Sacraments'
fonts in the country.” Lawrence OP’s Flickr site. www.flickr.com
Laxfield Church, England.
Buckland, Gloucestershire
Buckland, Gloucestershire. One of three surviving panels of a late fifteenth
century series of the seven sacraments. Matrimony. Vitrearum's Flickr
photo site. www.flickr.com
St. Michael Church
Doddiscombsleigh, Devon, England
Seven Sacraments Window.
St. Michael Church,
Doddiscombsleigh, Devon,
England
“[T]he east window of the north
aisle, contains the most
complete in situ composition
of the Seven Sacraments in
any English church, with
beautifully painted scenes of
the Eucharist, Marriage,
Confirmation, Penance,
Ordination, Baptism, and
Extreme Unction, depicted as
flowing from lines of blood
streaming from Christ’s
wounds”
(www.vidimus.org)
St. Michael Church,
Doddiscombsleigh, Devon,
England
(www.vidimus.org)
St Anthony’s Church
Cartmel Fell, Lancashire, England
East window of St Anthony’s Church, Cartmel Fell,
England. (www.vidimus.org)
Interior of St Anthony’s Church, Cartmel Fell, Lancashire, England
(www.visitcumbria.com)
Exterior of St Anthony’s Church, Cartmel Fell, Lancashire, England
(www.visitcumbria.com)
Manuscripts
Salutaris septum Sacramentorum
institutio. From Warwick
University Department of History.
No caption found.
La Croix de Pardieu. [Paris: Ulrich
Gering and Bertold Rembolt,
after 1500?]: Aberdeen SLA Inc.
200. The seven concentric
circles of the title page, each
divided into seven sections, set
out the petitions of the Lord’s
Prayer, the seven sacraments,
the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit,
and so on, collectively
representing all the religious
knowledge required of every
person. The remainder of the
little treatise expounds in
equally elementary fashion ’Le
A b c des Christiens’. This
fascinating little work, which
appears to be unique, raises
several bibliographical problems,
discussed in Mitchell,
Catalogue of the Incunabula in
Aberdeen University Library,
no. 200.
Page from Assertio Septem
Sacramentorum, Henry
VIII
The Vatican Libraries.
1521 “Assertion of the
Seven Sacraments” by
King Henry VIII: A reply
to Martin Luther. Pope
Leo X gives Henry the
title of “Defender of the
Faith” Vatican Libraries
Nicolas Poussin
Self-Portrait by Nicolas
Poussin, 1650, oil on
canvas, 98 x 74 cm,
Louvre
The Sacrament of Baptism, Nicolas Poussin, 1642, Oil on canvas,
95,3 x 121,6 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington
Nicolas Poussin. The Ordination. 1640s. Oil on canvas. The
Trustees of Rutland Trust, Belvoir Castle, Grantham, UK.
Nicolas Poussin. The Last Supper. 1640s. Oil on canvas. The
Trustees of Rutland Trust, Belvoir Castle, Grantham, UK.
Nicolas Poussin. The Confirmation. 1640s. Oil on canvas. The Trustees of
Rutland Trust, Belvoir Castle, Grantham, UK.
Nicolas Poussin. The Extreme Unction. 1640s. Oil on canvas. The Trustees of
Rutland Trust, Belvoir Castle, Grantham, UK.
Prayer Cards
American, Nineteenth Century
Confession. This card is from the complete set of seven holy cards
issued in the 1800s to showcase the Seven Sacraments.
Baptism. This card is from the complete set of seven holy cards
issued in the 1800s to showcase the Seven Sacraments.
The Penny Catechism
American, 1930s
"The Penny Catechism"
CATECHISM FOR
BEGINNERS An
Aid in Preparing the
Little Ones for the
Reception of First
Holy Communion
First Book of Father
Decks' Series of
Catechisms Nihil
Obstat and
Imprimatur, 1930
OMNI CHRISTIAN
BOOK CLUB.
HAWTHORNE,
CALIFORNIA 90251
"The Penny
Catechism"
"The Penny
Catechism"
"The Penny
Catechism"
"The Penny
Catechism"
"The Penny
Catechism"
"The Penny
Catechism"
Christ the King Cathedral
Lexington, Kentucky
Seven Sacraments Windows. Christ the King Cathedral, Lexington,
Kentucky, USA. +Alan’s Flickr Photo Stream. www.flickr.com
The Sacrifice of Abraham, in context. St. Vitale’s Revenna. From
azoto46's photostream. www.flickr.com
More Revenna
“The two prominent figures here are the Emperor Justinian and Bishop
Maximian. Justinain carries a large gilded paten and is followed by two
patricians wearing white tunics with purple tabellae and by the Imperial
guard armed with shields and lances.” Oar_square's photostream.
www.flickr.com The Empress Theodora and her court, St. Vitale, Revenna
“Christ is seated on a deep blue globe
with San Vitale to his right
accompanied by an angel. Bishop
Ecclesio appears with another angel
on the opposite side. Cross shaped
vault ceiling of the cupola in the
Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna
Italy. Construction of he church
began in 526 AD and was
consecrated on April 19, 548AD.
Often referred to as the "most
glorious example of Byzantine art
in the West". The predominant
feature of this basilica is its
octagonal shape with a central core
surmounted by a dome and
supported by eight columns and
arches.” Oar_square's photostream.
www.flickr.com
San Vitale, Ravenna. Interior view showing apse. From Sacreddesitnations.com
“Cross shaped vault ceiling of the cupola in the Basilica of San Vitale in
Ravenna Italy..” Oar_square's photostream. www.flickr.com Floor plan of St. Vitale Church,
Revenna. From a State
University of New York at
Oneonta class website.
Constantinople
Church of St. Surgius and Bacchus,
Constantinople.
“The name of the recently restored
church (Little Haghia Sophia,
Kücük Ayasofya) derives from its
supposed architectural
resemblance to that of the great
Haghia Sophia (Ayasofya), though
it is older than the latter. It was
built by the emperor Justinian in
527 AD and was originally known
as the Church of SS Sergius and
Bacchus.The architect of the
building is unknown but its
architecture is very similar to that
of the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
built by Mimar Sinan, of the St.
Vitale Church in Ravenna and even
to that of the Cathedral of Aaachen
in Germany.It is one of the most
important buildings in the history
of architecture. Efendi's
photostream. www.flickr.com