Victor Bourgeau and Henri Bouriché, The Altarpiece at Notre-Dame de Montréal
Circa 1875
Pine (statues)
Basilica of Notre-Dame de Montréal
The statues were delivered in 1875. They are by Bouriché; Bourgeau designed the altarpiece as a whole. Above the altar where the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary is memorialized, we see the Crucifixion itself, with Mary on the left and St. John on the right. This scene is flanked by four of the Old Testament episodes that were considered to prefigure the sacrifice:
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Upper left: Moses ("horned" by light rays) stands priest-like in orant position. Two "horns" of light emanate from his forehead. A web site I consulted says he places an urn full of manna inside the Ark of the Covenant.
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Upper right: Aaron, the high priest, sacrifices a lamb, prefiguring the sacrifice of the "Lamb of God."
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Lower left: Melchizedech offers bread and wine in sacrifice. In his hands are a chalice and paten like those used in the Mass. On the altar are the jug and the pile of loaves from which he has taken the offerings.
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Lower right: Abraham about to sacrifice his son Isaac. The boy appears to be looking calmly toward Heaven.
Read more about images of the Crucifixion, Moses, Aaron, Melchizedech, and Abraham.
Photographs taken at the basilica by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.