College of Fine Arts and Design unveiled its new Fra Angelico image, which was sculpted by none other than the renowned Ecclesiastical Sculptor Willy Layug, on February 19, 2024.
Rector Rev. fr. Richard G. Ang, O.P., PhD led the Thanksgiving and Feast Day Mass in honor of the saint, while Bishop-elect Rev. fr. Napoleon B. Sipalay, Jr., O.P. blessed the image.
The Fra Angelico image was enthroned at the main lobby of the building named after him.
‘Angelic Artist’
According to fr. Ang, Fra Angelico was dubbed as the “Angelic Artist” because of his integrity and how he uses his artistic gifts as a way to connect with God. “Fray Angelico was very prayerful that painting for him was not just an artistic enterprise or expression, but it was also a form of prayer,” fr. Ang said in his homily.
A 15th-century Renaissance artist and Dominican priest whose frescoes and paintings depicted Gospel scenes, Fra Angelico shared the “Angelic” distinction along with the University Patron Saint Thomas Aquinas, who was dubbed as the “Angelic Doctor.”
Meanwhile, Layug is a BFA-Painting alumnus who was awarded in March 2016 with the Pro Ecclesiae et Pontifice, the highest honor the Pope can award to the lay people in recognition of their services to the Church.
Layug’s life-size saints, retablos, and other religious images can be found in churches and cathedrals in the country.
