From the Archives: Professor Gonippo Raggi’s Artistic Legacy

Ecclesiastical artist Professor Gonippo Raggi works on an original painting in his Orange studio in 1952. Raggi was born in Italy and came to the United States when he was commissioned to decorate St. Catherine of Siena Church in Spring Lake, NJ in 1921. He became good friends with Archbishop Walsh, at the time the Bishop of Trenton, who later commissioned Raggi’s work for a number of churches in Newark. Most notably, Professor Raggi was chosen to design the interior furnishings for Sacred Heart Cathedral, a job which required him to bounce between Newark; Carrara, Italy (where the marble statues were carved); Munich, Germany (where the stained glass was manufactured); and Padua, Italy (where the bells were cast).

(Archdiocese of Newark Archives, Catholic Advocate collection)

Editor’s note: All published archival photos can be found under the “From the archives” tab in the top menu. For more information on the archdiocesan archives, visit rcan.org/archives.