The Wonder
Prism
Eight stones. One light.
Each laureate receives a hand-sized crystal, cut by hand and set on a plinth of white Carrara marble edged in gilded bronze. Around it runs a crown of eight gemstones, each held in a gold bezel.
Every art is a different stone. When light passes through the crown, each stone casts its own colored beam: sapphire blue for Writing, ruby for Theatre, citrine for Music, and so on around the ring. The light is one; the colors are many. So it is with the arts, and with the gifts of the artists who receive it.
Light
Every art begins in receiving. The stones make no light of their own; they give back what they are given, transfigured into color.
Wonder
No one is too sophisticated to stop for a rainbow on a wall. That pause is the attitude the Letter asks of every artist.
First sight
Light through a jewel looks new every time. The Awards exist to see young artists the same way, before anyone else has.
“Faced with the sacredness of life and of the human person, and before the marvels of the universe, wonder is the only appropriate attitude.”John Paul II, Letter to Artists, ¶16
- Material Hand-cut clear crystal, eight gemstones in 18k gold bezels, white Carrara marble, gilded bronze
- Size 14 cm, hand-held
- Edition Eight per year, numbered and engraved beneath
- First presented April 22, 2028
Concept object. Imagery is illustrative.
One stone for each art
Sapphire
Lapis blue
In Exodus and Ezekiel, sapphire lies beneath the throne of God. The art of the Word gets the stone of heaven's clarity.
Ruby
Crimson
The stone of the heart and of blood, the color of the curtain and of the Passion: a human heart laid bare, live.
Citrine
Saffron
Warm as sunlight. Music fills a room the way light does, unseen and everywhere.
Amethyst
Amethyst
The stone of the bishop's ring and the violet of Advent and Lent. Prayer sung gets the stone of the altar.
Garnet
Vermilion
A deep red echoing vermilion, the pigment the old masters ground by hand.
Emerald
Emerald
A foundation stone of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21). Those who build the city, green as creation.
Tourmaline
Viridian
It shows different colors from different angles, as the camera does. The newest art gets the many-faced stone.
Rhodolite
Madder rose
A rose garnet, warm and moving. The rose is Mary's flower, and dance is beauty that exists only while it moves.
One Light, eight stones, eight colors.