24 × 36”

1.5” Deep

Tiffani authored her master’s thesis as an empirical study of the mural program at the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist, a project that became both scholarly and deeply personal. Drawn by the sanctuary’s spiritual resonance, she immersed herself in its visual language—studying the saints through their symbolic signifiers and tracing artistic influences rooted in European sacred traditions, supported by research conducted through the Library of Congress. Her work contributed to a deeper understanding of the Cathedral’s iconographic program and informed later restoration and implementation efforts within the Basilica in recent years, particularly in relation to devotional traditions associated with Fra Angelico.

The mural program itself was conceived and stewarded by Christopher Murphy and executed by artist Paul Gutsche, whose oil-on-canvas works were completed in 1911–1912 and installed as part of the Cathedral’s early 20th-century restoration, forming a rich and enduring visual narrative within the sacred space. It is from this deep study and reverence that Tiffani was inspired to paint the Basilica herself in oil—translating not only its architectural grandeur, but its spiritual atmosphere and layered history into her own contemporary visual language.