Mirror of Justice – Loreto Embroideries

The Litany of Loreto dates back to the Middle Ages and includes over 50 titles of Mary. In 1912, Italian artist Ezio Anichini released his illustrations of the 46 titles that were in use at the time. Of those, an anonymous person made 12 or 13 into needlework. Anichini’s style is Art Noveau, or Stile Liberty in Italian. The sticher faithfully recreated Anichini’s precise yet romantic, emotionally engaging images. Anichini is perhaps our favorite non-museum Catholic artist, and the embroidery adds an intriguing element of color to his designs, besides being masterpieces in their own right.

St. John Henry Newman said of the title Mirror of Justice that “justice” in this usage can be taken as “all virtues at once, a perfect, virtuous state of soul—righteousness, or moral perfection; so that it answers very nearly to what is meant by sanctity.” Mary reflects like a mirror the holiness of Jesus, who himself is justice.
(Sources: CorneliaConnellyLibrary.org & needlenthread.com & www.cardinaljohnhenrynewman.com)

We spent a lot of time restoring this image, removing the flaws from the photograph and lightening it a bit to bring out the richness and contrast of the colors and the precision of the needlework. We look forward to the time when the Royal School of Needlework, who hold and preserve these masterpieces, release perfect photographs of them to a grateful world. Until that time, the restoration work we have performed, not the imperfect source photograph, is copyrighted under U.S. copyright law.

If you would like us to frame it for you, please select a frame above, under "Framing".

8.5 x 11 acid-free paper, with about an inch-and-a-third of white space around the picture. Cardboard backer. Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal clear bag.

IMPORTANT!!! The image is smaller than the paper.

Standard size. Easy to find a ready-made frame at your local Hobby Lobby. If you're sending this as a gift and would like us to frame it for you, please convo and we'll make special arrangements for you.

Text and Image Alterations ©  Sue Kouma Johnson

You might also be interested in original Catholic art and jewelry by me, Sue Kouma Johnson, available all over this shop! Thanks!