The Sydney Cathedral
is one of the oldest buildings in the city and of great importance to the believers in this community, a vital center of Catholicism in Australia. Granda received the commission to complete the main historic altarpiece of the Cathedral, in a Neo-Gothic style. The altarpiece stands in a Carrara marble clad sanctuary. To complete this project, we made images of the Twelve Apostles, flanked by two larger images representing Moses and Elijah, sheltered in niches. These figures, which prefigure the sacrifice of Christ and appear next to Him in the Transfiguration, highlight the dialog between the Old and New Testaments. The statues were made of cedar wood and polychromies using glazes, a delicate technique where the grain of the wood is left visible. We also completed the altarpiece in the side chapel of the Cathedral. In this case, our proposal consisted of representing eight holy women: St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, St. Maria Goretti, St. Monica of Hippo, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Teresa of Lisieux, St. Teresa of Jesus and St. Mary MacKillop, the first Australian saint.
