10 Saints for Hrasno: Stained Glass in the Herzegovina Hills
Stained Glass · Sacred Art- Story
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- Apperlo Art & Stanisic Studio
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- 2 min
Some commissions you remember for the glass. Hrasno we remember for everything around it.
Up in the hills
Hrasno sits in the stony karst hills behind Neum, in Herzegovina, between about 820 and 1,410 feet above the sea, roughly halfway on the line between Mostar and Dubrovnik. The road climbs out of the coast into a quiet world of stone walls, oak scrub and wide skies. The parish is old, separated from Dubrava in 1761, and its stone church was built in 1935 on the site of an 1882 chapel. Since 1977 it has also been the Shrine of the Queen of Peace, and every May pilgrims climb here from all over the region.
10 new windows
On 15 June 2013 we agreed with the parish of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, represented by its pastor, don Antun Pavlović, to make 10 new stained glass windows with different saints, about 205 square feet of glass in all. Every window was cut, painted, fired and leaded in our studio in Sombor, Republic of Serbia.
All 10 share one frame: a lattice of gold and turquoise diamonds, a border of white pearls on black, and side panels of golden scrollwork. Inside that frame, each saint stands in full color, with faces, hands and drapery painted by hand and fired in the kiln.
The saints
The church is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, so the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus stand together as a pair. Around them are saints close to the hearts of the parish:
- Saint Anthony of Padua, holding the Christ Child and a lily
- Saint George on a white horse, driving his lance into the dragon
- Saint Martin of Tours, on horseback, sharing his cloak with a poor man
- Saint Nicholas, the bishop with his crozier and the 3 golden balls on his book
- Saint John the Baptist, pointing to heaven
- Saint Andrew the Apostle, with his X shaped cross
- Saint Mark the Evangelist, writing his Gospel, with his lion
- Blessed Ivan Merz, the young Croatian layman, with Saint Peter's Basilica and the twin spires of Zagreb Cathedral behind him
Like travelling back in time
We installed the windows ourselves, and the mornings up in the hills were cold, the kind of cold that wakes you before the sun. But the welcome was warm from the first day. Don Antun made us feel truly at home. In the evenings we sat near the fire and enjoyed great meals before sleep, surrounded by the beautiful nature of the Herzegovina hills.
Up there, with the stone, the quiet and the fire, it felt like travelling back in time. We are still grateful for those days.
Mary above the door
Above the entrance, a lunette shows Mary with the Child on her lap, framed by the words "Bezgrješna Djevice, moli za nas!", Immaculate Virgin, pray for us.
Church: Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hrasno, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pastor: don Antun Pavlović
Work: 10 stained glass windows with saints, about 205 sq ft
Fabrication and installation: Stanisic Studio, Sombor, Republic of Serbia
Year: 2013
